SINTRA

The experience in computer networks, gained through the ELENA projects, formed the foundation for the development of SINTRA, which equipped the laboratories of the Rede das Novas Licenciaturas in the early 1990s.

The SINTRA allowed up to eight terminals with serial interfaces (RS232) to connect to remote computers via a local Ethernet or Cheapernet network. What was typically achieved at the time through direct cable connections between the terminal and the central computer was instead implemented with local cabling between the terminals and the SINTRA, and a local network connecting the SINTRAs to the central computer—a structured network avant la lettre.