Broadband Telecommunications Handbook, Second Edition
A blockbuster overview of broadband updated and expanded to reflect the latest technologies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Broadband Telecommunications Handbook, Second Edition
Chapter 32: The Internet
We are accustomed to succinct definitions of systems and equipment. The Internet is a little difficult to describe in 25 words or less. The Internet is really a collection of privately owned networks. By private, we mean that it is not owned by the government but by private and public companies. The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) set standards. The Internet Society elects the IAB members. The IETF membership is voluntary.
A Brief History
The Internet began as Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET). Because universities were working on research for the military, a means was desired to be able to share research papers. Some say it started before ARPANET by informal agreements between universities to dial each other up and exchange e-mail. At the time, there were no formal protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP). These informal dial-up connections were using acoustic-coupled modems at 1200 bps. Actually, there was no real network only these agreements to forward mail.
ARPANET started with the first packet-switching technology. The first packet software was called an Intermediate Message Processor (IMP) and was built under contract by Bolt, Bernak, and Newman. The goal was to remotely log into computers in Berkeley from UCLA. The initial experiment didn't work, but it provided the basis for continued improvement, which lead to ARPANET. The Internet began then as an interconnection of Interface Message Processors (IMPs) that could relay traffic between hosts. (A host was...
Copyright The Mc-Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2002 under license agreement with Books24x7
