Currently, Frame Relay is the most prevalent type of packet switching used in North America;
however, Frame Relay’s origin is very humble. Initially, Frame Relay was not even a standard
unto itself; instead, it was an extension of the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) standard.
The International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunications, or ITU-T, (formerly
known as the
Comité Consultatif International de Téléphonique et Télégraphique
, or CCITT)
was the first to define the Frame Relay standard.
Many companies that saw the value of this technology quickly adopted the ITU-T standard
for Frame Relay. After these companies showed interest, ITU-T and other organizations proceeded
to develop the standard, but very slowly. Several corporations saw a need for a more
rapid development and implementation of a Frame Relay standard. Four companies—Digital
Equipment Corporation (DEC), Northern Telecom (Nortel), Cisco, and StrataCom—bound
together to form the
Group of Four
. This group began developing Frame Relay technology
more quickly, which enabled Frame Relay to work on disparate devices. In September 1990, the
Group of Four published
Frame Relay Specifications with Extensions
. This group eventually
became what is currently known as the
Frame Relay Forum
.