International Network Working Group

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The International Network Working Group (INWG) was a group of prominent computer science researchers in the 1970s who studied and developed standards and protocols for computer networking. Set up in 1972 as an informal group to consider the technical issues involved in connecting different networks, its goal was to develop international standard protocols for internetworking. INWG became a subcommittee of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) two years later. Concepts developed by members of the group contributed to the original "Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication" proposed by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn in 1974 and the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) that emerged later.

History[edit]

Founding and IFIP affiliation[edit]

The International Network Working Group was formed by Steve Crocker, Louis Pouzin, Donald Davies, and Peter Kirstein in June 1972 in Paris at a networking conference organised by Pouzin.[1][2] Crocker saw that it would be useful to have an international version of the Network Working Group, which developed the Network Control Program for the ARPANET.[3]

At the International Conference on Computer Communication (ICCC) in Washington D.C. in October 1972, Vint Cerf was approved as INWG's Chair on Crocker's recommendation.[4][5][6][nb 1] The group included researchers representing the American ARPANET,[nb 2] the French CYCLADES and RCP projects,[nb 3] and British teams working on the NPL network, EPSS, and European Informatics Network.[4]

During early 1973, Pouzin arranged affiliation with the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). INWG became IFIP Working Group 1 under Technical Committee 6 (Data Communication) with the title "International Packet Switching for Computer Sharing" (WG6.1). This standing, although informal, enabled the group to provide technical input on packet networking to CCITT and ISO.[4][6][7][8][9] Its purpose was to study and develop "international standard protocols for internetworking".[10]

INWG published a series numbered notes, some of which were also RfCs.[4][11]

Gateways/routers[edit]

The idea for a router (called a gateway at the time) initially came about through INWG.[12] These gateway devices were different from most previous packet switching schemes in two ways. First, they connected dissimilar kinds of networks, such as serial lines and local area networks. Second, they were connectionless devices, which had no role in assuring that traffic was delivered reliably, leaving that function entirely to the hosts. This particular idea, the end-to-end principle, had been pioneered in the CYCLADES network.[13]

Proposal for an international end-to-end protocol[edit]

INWG met in Stanford in June 1973.[14] Attendees included Cerf, Bob Kahn, Alex McKenzie, Bob Metcalfe, Roger Scantlebury, John Shoch and Hubert Zimmermann, among others.[4][15] They discussed a first draft of an International Transmission Protocol (ITP).[4] Zimmermann and Metcalfe dominated the discussions; Metclafe, Shoch and others at Xerox PARC had been developing the idea of Ethernet and the PARC Universal Packet (PUP) for internetworking.[15][16] Notes from the meetings were recorded by Cerf and McKenzie, which was circulated after the meeting (INWG 28).[4][11] There was a follow-up meeting in July. Gerard LeLann and G. Grossman made contributions after the June meeting.[4]

Building on this work, in September 1973, Kahn and Cerf presented a paper, Host and Process Level Protocols for Internetwork Communication, at the next INWG meeting at the University of Sussex in England (INWG 39).[17] Their ideas were refined further in long discussions with Davies, Scantlebury, Pouzin and Zimmerman.[18]

Pouzin circulated a paper on Interconnection of Packet Switching Networks in October 1973 (INWG 42),[4][11] in which he introduced the term catenet for an interconnected network.[4][19] Zimmerman and Michel Elie wrote a Proposed Standard Host-Host Protcol for Heterogenous Computer Networks: Transport Protocol in December 1973 (INWG 43).[20] Pouzin updated his paper with A Proposal for Interconnecting Packet Switching Networks in March 1974 (INWG 60),[11] published two months later in May.[21] Zimmerman and Elie circulated a Standard host-host protocol for heterogeneous computer networks in April 1974 (INWG 61).[11] Pouzin published An integrated approach to network protocols in May 1975.[22]

Kahn and Cerf published a significantly updated and refined version of their proposal in May 1974, A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication, which introduced the term internet as a shorthand for internetwork. A later version of the paper acknowledged several people including members of INWG and attendees at the June 1973 meeting in Stanford.[23] It was updated in INWG 72/RFC 675 in December 1974 by Cerf, Yogen Dalal and Carl Sunshine.[24]

The Internet architecture as seen by the INWG.[25]

Two competing proposals had evolved,[26] the early Transmission Control Program (TCP), originally proposed by Kahn and Cerf, and the CYCLADES transport station (TS) protocol, proposed by Pouzin, Zimmermann and Elie. There were two sticking points: how fragmentation should work; and whether the data flow was an undifferentiated stream or maintained the integrity of the units sent. These were not major differences. After "hot debate", MacKenzie proposed a synthesis in December 1974, Internetwork Host-to-Host Protocol (INWG 74) which he refined the following year with Cerf, Scantlebury and Zimmerman (INWG 96).[4][16][25][27]

After reaching agreement with the wider group, a Proposal for an international end to end protocol, was published by Cerf, McKenzie, Scantlebury, and Zimmermann in 1976.[28][29][30] It was presented to the CCITT and ISO by Derek Barber, who became INWG chair earlier that year.[4] Although the protocol was adopted by networks in Europe,[31] it was not adopted by the CCITT, ISO nor the ARPANET.[4]

The CCITT went on to adopt the X.25 standard in 1976, based on virtual circuits. ARPA began testing TCP in 1975 at Stanford, BBN and University College London.[32] Ultimately, ARPA developed the Internet protocol suite, including the Internet Protocol as connectionless layer and the Transmission Control Protocol as a reliable connection-oriented service, which reflects concepts in Pouzin's CYCLADES project.[33]

Later[edit]

Alex McKenzie served as chair from 1979-1982 and Secretary beginning in 1983.[10] Later international work led to the OSI model in 1984, of which many members of the INWG became advocates.[5] During the 'Protocol Wars' of the late 1980s and early 1990s, engineers, organizations and nations became polarized over the issue of which standard, the OSI model or the Internet protocol suite would result in the best and most robust computer networks. ARPA partnerships with the telecommunication and computer industry led to widespread private sector adoption of the Internet protocol suite as a communication protocol.[5][34][35]

The INWG continued to work on protocol design and formal specification until the 1990s when it disbanded as the Internet grew rapidly.[4] Nonetheless, issues with the Internet Protocol suite remain and alternatives have been proposed building on INWG ideas such as Recursive Internetwork Architecture.[25]

Members[edit]

The group had about 100 members, including the following:[4][8]

  • D. Barber
  • B. Barker
  • V. Cerf
  • W. Clipsham
  • D. Davies
  • R. Despres
  • V. Detwiler
  • F. Heart
  • A. McKenzie
  • L. Pouzin
  • O. Riml
  • K. Samuelson
  • K. Sandum
  • R. Scantlebury
  • B. Sexton
  • P. Shanks
  • C.D. Shepard
  • J. Tucker
  • B. Wessler
  • H. Zimmerman

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Crocker recalls he allocated Cerf $50k funding for the role, although Kahn does not recall this.
  2. ^ More specifically, McKenzie represented BBN and Cerf represented Stanford University.
  3. ^ Remi Despres, who represented the French RCP, was also a member.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Pelkey, James. "8.3 CYCLADES Network and Louis Pouzin 1971–1972". Entrepreneurial Capitalism and Innovation: A History of Computer Communications 1968–1988.
  2. ^ Hafner & Lyon 1999, p. 222
  3. ^ "Internet founders say flexible framework was key to explosive growth". Princeton University. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o McKenzie, Alexander (2011). "INWG and the Conception of the Internet: An Eyewitness Account". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 33 (1): 66–71. doi:10.1109/MAHC.2011.9. ISSN 1934-1547. S2CID 206443072.
  5. ^ a b c Andrew L. Russell (30 July 2013). "OSI: The Internet That Wasn't". IEEE Spectrum. Vol. 50, no. 8.
  6. ^ a b Abbate, Janet (2000). Inventing the Internet. MIT Press. pp. 123–4. ISBN 978-0-262-51115-5.
  7. ^ The "Hidden" Prehistory of European Research Networking. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4669-3935-6.
  8. ^ a b Davies, Donald Watts (1979). Computer networks and their protocols. Internet Archive. Chichester, [Eng.] ; New York : Wiley. p. 466. ISBN 9780471997504.
  9. ^ "Vinton Cerf : How the Internet Came to Be". www.netvalley.com. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  10. ^ a b "Collection: Alex McKenzie collection of computer networking development records | University of Minnesota Archival Collections Guides". archives.lib.umn.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  11. ^ a b c d e "General Notes index: 1-77, 98-111, 116-125 citing note number, author, and title; INWG Protocol Notes index: 1-10, 28-38 citing note number, author, title and date". umedia.lib.umn.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  12. ^ Davies, Shanks, Heart, Barker, Despres, Detwiler and Riml, "Report of Subgroup 1 on Communication System", INWG Note No. 1.
  13. ^ Bennett, Richard (September 2009). "Designed for Change: End-to-End Arguments, Internet Innovation, and the Net Neutrality Debate" (PDF). Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. pp. 7, 11. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  14. ^ Isaacson, Walter (2014). The innovators : how a group of hackers, geniuses, and geeks created the digital revolution. Internet Archive. New York : Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4767-0869-0.
  15. ^ a b Taylor, Bob (October 11, 2008), "Oral History of Robert (Bob) W. Taylor" (PDF), Computer History Museum Archive, CHM Reference number: X5059.2009: 28
  16. ^ a b Russell, Andrew L.; Schafer, Valérie (2014). "In the Shadow of ARPANET and Internet: Louis Pouzin and the Cyclades Network in the 1970s". Technology and Culture. 55 (4): 893–894. ISSN 0040-165X.
  17. ^ Pelkey, James. "8.4 Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) 1973-1976". Entrepreneurial Capitalism and Innovation: A History of Computer Communications 1968–1988.
  18. ^ Hafner, Katie; Lyon, Matthew (1999-08-19) [1996]. Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet. Simon and Schuster. pp. 225–6. ISBN 978-0-684-87216-2.
  19. ^ Vint Cerf (July 1978). "IEN 48: The Catenet Model for Internetworking". IETF. The term "catenet" was introduced by L. Pouzin.
  20. ^ "General Notes index: 1-77, 98-111, 116-125 citing note number, author, and title; INWG Protocol Notes index: 1-10, 28-38 citing note number, author, title and date". umedia.lib.umn.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  21. ^ A Proposal for Interconnecting Packet Switching Networks, L. Pouzin, Proceedings of EUROCOMP, Brunel University, May 1974, pp. 1023-36.
  22. ^ Pouzin, Louis (1975-05-19). "An integrated approach to network protocols". Proceedings of the May 19-22, 1975, national computer conference and exposition. AFIPS '75. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery: 701–707. doi:10.1145/1499949.1500100. ISBN 978-1-4503-7919-9.
  23. ^ Cerf, V.; Kahn, R. (1974). "A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication" (PDF). IEEE Transactions on Communications. 22 (5): 637–648. doi:10.1109/TCOM.1974.1092259. ISSN 1558-0857. The authors wish to thank a number of colleagues for helpful comments during early discussions of international network protocols, especially R. Metcalfe, R. Scantlebury, D. Walden, and H. Zimmerman; D. Davies and L. Pouzin who constructively commented on the fragmentation and accounting issues; and S. Crocker who commented on the creation and destruction of associations.
  24. ^ Specification of Internet Transmission Control Program. 1974. doi:10.17487/RFC0675. RFC 675.
  25. ^ a b c J. Day. How in the Heck Do You Lose a Layer!? 2nd IFIP International Conference of the Network of the Future, Paris, France, 2011
  26. ^ Russell, Andrew L. (2014). Open standards and the digital age: history, ideology, and networks. New York: Cambridge Univ Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-1107039193.
  27. ^ Day, John (2007-12-27). Patterns in Network Architecture: A Return to Fundamentals (paperback): A Return to Fundamentals. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-13-270456-4.
  28. ^ Cerf, V.; McKenzie, A; Scantlebury, R; Zimmermann, H (1976). "Proposal for an international end to end protocol". ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review. 6: 63–89. doi:10.1145/1015828.1015832. S2CID 36954091.
  29. ^ Davies, Donald Watts (1979). Computer Networks and Their Protocols. Wiley. p. 468. ISBN 978-0-471-99750-4.
  30. ^ Esmailzadeh, Riaz (2016-03-04). Broadband Telecommunications Technologies and Management. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-99565-5.
  31. ^ "Hubert Zimmerman". www.historyofcomputercommunications.info. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  32. ^ by Vinton Cerf, as told to Bernard Aboba (1993). "How the Internet Came to Be". Retrieved 27 November 2022. We began doing concurrent implementations at Stanford, BBN, and University College London. So effort at developing the Internet protocols was international from the beginning.
  33. ^ "The internet's fifth man". Economist. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2017. In the early 1970s Mr Pouzin created an innovative data network that linked locations in France, Italy and Britain. Its simplicity and efficiency pointed the way to a network that could connect not just dozens of machines, but millions of them. It captured the imagination of Dr Cerf and Dr Kahn, who included aspects of its design in the protocols that now power the internet.
  34. ^ Russell, Andrew L. "Rough Consensus and Running Code' and the Internet-OSI Standards War" (PDF). IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.
  35. ^ Davies, Howard; Bressan, Beatrice (2010-04-26). A History of International Research Networking: The People who Made it Happen. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-3-527-32710-2.

Primary sources[edit]

  • Various (June 1973), International Transmission Protocol, IFIP WG6.1, INWG 28.
  • Cerf, Vinton; Kahn, Robert (September 1973), Host and Process Level Protocols for Internetwork Communication, IFIP WG6.1, INWG 39.
  • Pouzin, Louis (October 1973), Interconnection of Packet Switching Networks, IFIP WG6.1, INWG 42.
  • Zimmermann, Hubert; Elie, Michel (December 1973), Proposed Standard Host-Host Protcol for Heterogenous Computer Networks: Transport Protocol, IFIP WG6.1, INWG 43.
  • Pouzin, Louis (March 1974), A Proposal for Interconnecting Packet Switching Networks, IFIP WG6.1, INWG 60.
  • Zimmermann, Hubert; Elie, Michel (April 1974), Transport Protocol: Standard Host-Host Protocol for Heterogeneous Computer Networks, IFIP WG6.1, INWG 61.
  • Cerf, Vinton; Kahn, Robert (May 1974). "A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication". IEEE Transactions on Communications. 22 (5): 637–648. doi:10.1109/TCOM.1974.1092259.
  • Pouzin, Louis (May 1974), A Proposal for Interconnecting Packet Switching Networks, Proceedings of EUROCOMP, Brunel University, pp. 1023-36.
  • MacKenzie, Alex (December 1974), Internetwork Host-to-Host Protocol, IFIP WG6.1, INWG 74.
  • Pouzin, Louis (May 1975). "An integrated approach to network protocols". Proceedings of the May 19-22, 1975, national computer conference and exposition on - AFIPS '75. Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 701–707. doi:10.1145/1499949.1500100. ISBN 978-1-4503-7919-9.
  • Cerf, Vinton; McKenzie, Alex; Scantlebury, Roger; Zimmermann, Hubert (July 1975), Proposal for an Internetwork End-to-End Protocol, IFIP WG6.1, INWG 96.
  • Cerf, V.; McKenzie, A; Scantlebury, R; Zimmermann, H (1976). "Proposal for an international end to end protocol". ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review. 6: 63–89. doi:10.1145/1015828.1015832. S2CID 36954091.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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