<s>
LANStar	B-Protocol
(	O
Lanstar	B-Protocol
)	O
was	O
a	O
2.56	O
Mbit/s	O
twisted-pair	O
local	O
area	O
network	O
created	O
by	O
Northern	O
Telecom	O
in	O
the	O
mid	O
'	O
80s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LANStar	B-Protocol
was	O
originally	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
component	O
of	O
NT	O
's	O
PTE	O
(	O
Packet	O
Transport	O
Equipment	O
)	O
product	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
a	O
sort	O
of	O
minicomputer	O
arrangement	O
with	O
dumb	O
(	O
VT220	O
)	O
terminals	O
on	O
the	O
desktop	O
and	O
the	O
CPUs	O
in	O
an	O
intelligent	O
rack	O
(	O
the	O
PTE	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
PBX	O
room	O
(	O
alongside	O
the	O
PBX	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Given	O
the	O
investment	O
already	O
sunk	O
into	O
the	O
product	O
,	O
NT	O
attempted	O
to	O
repackage	O
the	O
PTE	O
as	O
a	O
small	O
(	O
dorm-room-refrigerator	O
sized	O
)	O
cabinet	O
(	O
the	O
PTE-S	O
,	O
'	O
S	O
 '	O
for	O
'	O
small	O
 '	O
)	O
containing	O
only	O
LANStar	B-Protocol
controllers	O
and	O
supporting	O
up	O
to	O
112	O
nodes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LANStar	B-Protocol
had	O
cards	O
for	O
the	O
PC/XT	O
,	O
PC/AT	O
and	O
MacII	O
and	O
supported	O
NetBIOS	O
,	O
Banyan	O
,	O
Novell	O
,	O
and	O
AppleTalk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LANStar	B-Protocol
was	O
discontinued	O
in	O
1990	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
"	O
LANStar	B-Protocol
"	O
was	O
coined	O
by	O
NT	O
Product	O
Marketing	O
manager	O
Paul	O
Masters	O
:	O
he	O
heard	O
of	O
T	O
's	O
proposed	O
StarLAN	B-Protocol
product	O
and	O
created	O
a	O
similar	O
name	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
piggyback	O
on	O
all	O
the	O
publicity	O
surrounding	O
T	O
's	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
