Chuck Forsberg developed two data transmission protocols popular for uploading and downloading files from dial-up bulletin board systems in the 1990s. He received a Dvorak Award for Excellence in Telecommunications in 1992 for developing ZMODEM.[1]
The widely adopted ZMODEM used a sliding window protocol. Rather than wait for positive acknowledgment after each block is sent, it sent blocks in rapid succession and resent unacknowledged blocks later. By avoiding delays due to latency, the bandwidth usable for transmission more closely approached the bandwidth of the underlying link. ZMODEM could also resume interrupted transfers without retransmitting the already-received blocks. In addition to developing the protocol, Forsberg developed software for sending and receiving files using ZMODEM.
Previously, he designed the YMODEM protocol and created its first implementation, a program called YAM.
Forsberg currently resides in Portland, Oregon. He runs data transmission software company Omen Technology which he founded in 1984.[non-primary source needed] He is an amateur radio operator (call sign WA7KGX) and a licensed aircraft pilot.[non-primary source needed]
Jesse Walker cited Forsberg as a participant in WMAS, a pirate radio station at Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois.[2] He graduated from the academy in 1962.
References
- ^ John C. Dvorak. "Dvorak Awards". Retrieved 8 December 2010.
- ^ Walker, Jesse (2001). Rebels on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America. NYU Press. pp. 199, 305. ISBN 978-0814793817.