ZMODEM

A public domain file transfer protocol used in asynchronous data communications. ZMODEM offers a number of improvements to the earlier XMODEM protocol, including an expanded 32-bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC) for purposes of improved error control. ZMODEM also supports larger block sizes (512 bytes), allows a transmission to resume where it left off in the event of a communications failure, and reduces latency through a sliding window protocol that allows a modem to transfer a series of blocks without waiting for individual acknowledgements from the receiving modem. ZMODEM was developed by Chuck Forsberg in 1986 for use in the Telenet X.25 network, and quickly became popular in the bulletin board system (BBS) community for file downloads. See also asynchronous, BBS, block, CRC, error control, Kermit, modem, X.25, XMODEM, and YMODEM.