Franklin "Frank" Kuo, a codeveloper of ALOHAnet, has died at the age of 91. The network, built at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, went online in 1971 and is widely recognized as a foundational step toward modern wireless and wired networking.
ALOHAnet was the first public demonstration of a wireless packet data network. Its techniques for managing shared communication channels directly influenced the design of Ethernet and later wireless protocols. Kuo's role in that effort places him among the key figures in early computer networking.
The IEEE Spectrum report confirms his death on 14 April but provides no further details about the cause. His legacy remains visible in every network that relies on collision handling and packet retransmission, ideas that trace back to the Hawaiian system he helped build.