The design philosophy of the DARPA internet protocols

ABSTRACT

The Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP, was first proposed fifteen years ago. It was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and has been used widely in military and commercial systems. While there have been papers and specifications that describe how the protocols work, it is sometimes difficult to deduce from these why the protocol is as it is. For example, the Internet protocol is based on a connectionless or datagram mode of service. The motivation for this has been greatly misunderstood. This paper attempts to capture some of the early reasoning which shaped the Internet protocols.

REFERENCES

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  J. Computer Applications
  J.7 COMPUTERS IN OTHER SYSTEMS
      Subjects: Military

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.2 COMPUTER-COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
      C.2.1 Network Architecture and Design

          Nouns: ARPANET
      C.2.2 Network Protocols
          Subjects: Protocol architecture (OSI model)
          Nouns: TCP/IP

  J. Computer Applications
  J.7 COMPUTERS IN OTHER SYSTEMS

      Nouns: DARPA

General Terms:
Design