ALOHAnet – University of Hawai'i College of Engineering

ALOHAnet was a pioneering computer networking system developed at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Engineering under the leadership of Dr. Norman Abramson, Dr. Franklin Kuo, and a team of faculty and students. All wireless communications today – including mobile, satellite, cellular, and WiFi – utilize the ALOHA protocol to establish an initial link.

In June 1971, the ALOHA packet radio data network began providing inter-island access to computing facilities at UH. ALOHAnet was the first to demonstrate that communication channels could be effectively and efficiently shared on a large scale using simple random access protocols. It provided the first public demonstration of a wireless packet data network and led directly to the development of Ethernet and personal wireless communication technologies.

ALOHAnet, also known as the ALOHA system, introduced a number of firsts in the areas of communications protocols and computer networks: the use of packets in the ALOHA protocol; random access in the ALOHA protocol; shared medium access in the ALOHA network; and wireless computer communications (enabled by an experimental UHF frequency).

Students standing next to a satellite dish.

ALOHAnet in the News

How ALOHAnet Helped Hawaii Make Waves in Networking and IT Innovation
StateTech Magazine, June 2016

Looking Back on 40 Years of Ethernet
Telecom Review, July 2013

Entrepreneurial Capitalism and Innovation: A History of Computer Communications 1968-1988

Heinz Nixdorf Museums Forum

Articles by Dr. Norman Abramson

The ALOHA System—Another alternative for computer communications (.pdf)
Fall Joint Computer Conference, 1970

Development of the ALOHAnet (.pdf)
IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, March 1985

The ALOHAnet — Surfing for wireless data (.pdf)
IEEE Communications Magazine, December 2009

IEEE Dedication Ceremony

After a lengthy application and selection process, ALOHAnet was approved as an IEEE Milestone! A dedication ceremony, including the marker installation, was held on October 13, 2020 at Holmes Hall.

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50th Anniversary

The ALOHAnet 50th Anniversary & Mini-Symposium took place at the College of Engineering on June 16, 2021 – 8:00am to 1:00pm HST.

Mahalo to our generous sponsors for making this symposium possible. Net proceeds generated from this event will fund a future scholarship in honor of ALOHAnet and its founder, the late Dr. Norm Abramson at the University of Hawai’i.