History of Communications - INTERNET: Making the Connections
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`Making the Connections
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`The ARPANET, predecessor to the Internet, started with an inspiring vision of a "galactic"
`network, practical theory about packet switching, and a suite of standardized protocols.
`But none of this would have mattered if there hadn't also been a way to make and
`maintain connections.
`
`Author Ronda Hauben described some of the early concerns about network transmission
`quality this way:
`
`"In 1966-67 Lincoln Labs in Lexington,
`Massachusetts, and SDR in Santa Monica,
`California, got a grant from the DOD to
`begin research on linking computers across
`the continent. Larry Roberts, describing this
`work, explains,
`
`"Convinced that it was a worthwhile goal,
`we set up a test network to see where the
`problems would be. Since computer time-
`sharing experiments at MIT (CTSS) and
`Dartmouth (DTSS) had demonstrated that it
`was possible to link different computer users
`to a single computer, the cross country
`experiment built on this advance." (i.e. Once timesharing was possible, the
`linking of remote computers was also possible.) Roberts reports that there was
`no trouble linking dissimilar computers. The problems, he claims, were with the
`telephone lines across the continent, i.e. that the throughput was inadequate
`to accomplish their goals."
`
`Packet switching resolved many of the issues identified during the pre-ARPANET, time-
`sharing experiments. But, higher-speed phone circuits also helped. The first wide area
`network demonstrated in 1965 between computers at MIT's Lincoln Lab, ARPA's facilities,
`and the System Development Corporation in California utilized dedicated 1200 bps circuits.
`Four years later, when the ARPANET began operating, 50 Kbps circuits were used. But, it
`wasn't until 1984 that ARPANET traffic levels were such that it became more cost-effective
`to lease T1 lines (1.5 Mbps) than to continue using multiple 50 Kbps lines.
`
`The Internet: A Short
`History of Getting
`Connected
`
`Something to Share
`Common Standards
`Making the
`Connections
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`Radio Pioneers &
`Core Technologies
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`Historical Periods in
`Television Technology
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`Related Materials
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`Wall Charts
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`Virtual Display Case
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`The Internet: Looking
`Back at How We Got
`Connected to the World
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`Museums, Libraries,
`and Collections
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`Selected Bibliography
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`Additional Information
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`Internet History Links
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`http://transition.fcc.gov/omd/history/internet/making-connections.html[3/21/2014 6:44:16 PM]
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`Apple Exhibit 4200
`Apple v Sightsound Technologies
`CBM2013-00020
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`History of Communications - INTERNET: Making the Connections
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`The increasing connection speed of T1 lines brought with it increasing demand, particularly
`from private sector businesses. By 1991, when all restrictions on commercial use of the
`Internet were lifted, the National Science Foundation (NSF) -- who from 1987 to 1995
`helped the U.S. make the transition from the ARPANET to today's Internet -- had its entire
`network backbone connected to 45 Mbps T3 lines. In 1994, a year before the private
`sector assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the Internet backbone, the NSF
`upgraded the Internet backbone to Asynchronous Transmission Mode, 145 Mbps.
`
`While large institutions, governments, and businesses have found it economically
`worthwhile to pay for high-speed connections for most of the past forty years, in most
`American homes - where the Internet became of interest after the introduction of the
`graphically-oriented World Wide Web in 1993 - affordable Internet access has been limited
`to 56 kbps modems operating over public phone lines. However, recently introduced
`broadband products and services offer North American households the possibility of getting
`access to a bit more of the bandwidth and connection speed actually available on the
`Internet. North American household's access to broadband began in 1996, when Rogers
`Communications introduced the first cable modem service in Canada.
`
`Broadband encompasses several digital technologies (cable, satellite, DSL, power line, and
`wireless) that provide consumers with integrated access to voice, high-speed data, video-
`on-demand, and interactive delivery services. The Congressional Research Service says
`that:
`
`“Broadband access, along with the content and services it might enable, has
`the potential to transform the Internet...For example, a two-way, high-speed
`connection could be used for interactive applications such as online classrooms,
`showrooms, or health clinics, where teacher and student (or customer and
`salesperson, doctor and patient) can see and hear each other through their
`computers. An “always on” connection could be used to monitor home
`security, home automation, or even patient health remotely through the web.
`The high speed and high volume that broadband offers could also be used for
`bundled service where, for example, cable television, video-on-demand, voice,
`data, and other services are all offered over a single line.”
`
`A growing percentage of U.S. households seem to agree that broadband connections have
`many advantages. Between 2000 and 2001, broadband subscriptions rose over 50%, with
`an additional 48% growth in 2003. And, the Pew Internet and American Life Project
`reports that 39% of adult Internet users have broadband access at home.
`
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`History of Communications - INTERNET: Making the Connections
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`Internet History
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`Making the
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`last reviewed/updated on 11/21/05
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