Experiments Notes

The collection contains general notes, protocol notes, experiments notes, legal/political notes, security notes and a newsletter file regarding INWG.

General Notes, written between 1972-1979 and numbered consecutively from 1-210 (missing 11 notes) plus one additional file of unnumbered notes, are primarily copies of papers, proposals, studies, diagrams, and some code concerning packet switching, sequencing, and other networking issues. They also include information on INWG workshops and INWG ad-hoc committees. Scattered throughout the General Notes are a few letters and memos.

Protocol Notes, numbered consecutively from 1-92, are primarily copies of papers, reports, summaries, protocol code, and diagrams presented by INWG members between 1974-1978. The protocol notes address communication between computers on an international scale, giving the most attention to creating functional and compatible means for electronic data transmission between nations.

Experiments Notes contains three INWG "experiments," papers defining plans which may or may not have been implemented.

Legal/Political Notes contains three files addressing electronic data transmission security, particularly aimed at banking and postal services.

Newsletter File includes copies of newsletters and memos distributed to INWG members between 1976-1990. Most INWG News issues, later titled INWG Newsletter, are in letter format. In 1984-1987 The Protocols-Subgroup Newsletterwas included with the INWG Newsletterand has a masthead with volume and issue numbers. The 1988-1990 issues were distributed separately. Some folders contain correspondence, memos, pamphlets and other newsletters.

Other materials in the collection include Internet Experiment Notes (IEN) and ARPANET Reports.

The Internet Experiment Notes (IEN) include Notes #1-212 (missing 7 notes) by Bolt, Beranek, and Newman, Inc. (BBN), Information Science Institute (ISI), Stanford Research Institute (SRI), and other researchers' work on electronic data transmission. The notes consist of printouts of protocol codes, algorithms, computer language code, and project proposals and descriptions. Many of the notes relate directly to research networks sponsored by ARPA, including ARPANET, the Atlantic Packet Satellite Network (SATNET) and various Packet Radio networks. Some texts direct discussions and methods of communication between nodes. The notes are not a continuous progression following one plan or program development, instead they are coordinated efforts towards linking computer systems and computer networks. Also included is a partial index to the IENs.

The ARPANET Reports group BBN's technical proposal, installation lists, and status reports to ARPA from BBN on the development of ARPANET.

Acronyms used in this finding aid