Chuck Forsberg developed two data transmission

Data transmission

Data transmission, digital transmission, or digital communications is the physical transfer of data over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optical fibres, wireless communication channels, and storage media...

 protocols popular for uploading and downloading

Uploading and downloading

In computer networks, to download means to receive data to a local system from a remote system, or to initiate such a data transfer. Examples of a remote system from which a download might be performed include a webserver, FTP server, email server, or other similar systems...

 files from dial-up bulletin board system

Bulletin board system

A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...

s in the 1990s. He received a Dvorak Award for Excellence in Telecommunications

Dvorak Awards

The Dvorak Awards for Excellence in Communication were established by computing columnist John C. Dvorak. Ascend Communications was their primary sponsor, but other businesses both inside and outside the computing industry also assumed sponsorship. The awards were given from 1992 through 1997...

 in 1992 for developing ZMODEM.

The widely adopted ZMODEM

ZMODEM

ZMODEM is a file transfer protocol developed by Chuck Forsberg in 1986, in a project funded by Telenet in order to improve file transfers on their X.25 network...

 used a sliding window protocol

Sliding Window Protocol

A sliding window protocol is a feature of packet-based data transmission protocols. Sliding window protocols are used where reliable in-order delivery of packets is required, such as in the Data Link Layer as well as in the Transmission Control Protocol .Conceptually, each portion of the...

. 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

Latency (engineering)

Latency is a measure of time delay experienced in a system, the precise definition of which depends on the system and the time being measured. Latencies may have different meaning in different contexts.-Packet-switched networks:...

, the bandwidth usable for transmission more closely approached the bandwidth

Bandwidth (computing)

In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it .Note that in textbooks on wireless communications, modem data transmission,...

 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

YMODEM

YMODEM is a protocol for file transfer used between modems. YMODEM was developed by Chuck Forsberg as the successor to XMODEM and MODEM7, and was first implemented in his CP/M YAM program...

 protocol and created its first implementation

Implementation

Implementation is the realization of an application, or execution of a plan, idea, model, design, specification, standard, algorithm, or policy.-Computer Science:...

, a program called YAM.

Forsberg currently resides in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

. He runs data transmission software company Omen Technology which he founded in 1984. He is an amateur radio operator (call sign WA7KGX) and a licensed aircraft pilot.

Jesse Walker

Jesse Walker

Jesse Walker is managing editor of Reason magazine. The University of Michigan alumnus has written the book Rebels on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America and maintains a blog called The Perpetual Three-Dot Column...

 cited Forsberg as a participant in WMAS, a pirate radio station

Pirate radio

Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...

 at Western Military Academy

Western Military Academy

Western Military Academy was a private military preparatory school located in Alton,Il. Founded in 1879, Western Military Academy closed in 1971. The campus is located in the National Register of Historic Places District...

 in Alton, Illinois

Alton, Illinois

Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...

. He graduated from the academy in 1962.

External links

• Omen Technology web site