Difference between revisions of "Interface Message Processor"

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BBN Interface Message Processor.
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The '''Interface Message Processor''' (or '''IMP''', as they were universally known) was the [[packet switch]] which the [[ARPANET]] was made out of; the IMPs were connected to each other via high-speed dedicated point-point telephone links, connected to the IMPs via a [[modem]]. All ARPANET hosts connected to an IMP, using the [[Host-to-IMP Protocol]].
  
Used to route messages between [[ARPANET]] hosts.
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A message from one Host to another was sent via the source Host's IMP, then routed through some number (possibly zero) intermediate IMPs, then through the destination Host's IMP (possibly the same IMP as the first one, in which case the message never went over a telephone line), on to the destination Host.
  
The IMP software was called [[NCP]], Network Control Program. Since then, many other networking software were also called NCP; the modern equivalent would be network stack.
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The IMPs were Honeywell [[minicomputer]]s, with added special high-speed modem interfaces, and asynchronous bit-serial Host interfaces.
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==Further reading==
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* F.E. Heart, R.E. Kahn, S.M. Ornstein, W.R. Crowther, and D.C. Walden, "[http://www.walden-family.com/public/1970-imp-afips.pdf The interface message processor for the ARPA computer network]", Proceedings AFIPS, 1970 SJCC, Vol. 36, pp. 551-567.
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* J.M. McQuillan, W.R. Crowther, B.P. Cosell, D.C. Walden, and F.E. Heart, "Improvements in the Design and Performance of the ARPA Network", Proceedings AFIPS, 1972 FJCC, Vol. 40, pp. 741-754.
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* John M. McQuillan, David C. Walden, "[http://www.walden-family.com/public/whole-paper.pdf The ARPA Network Design Decisions]", in "Computer Networks", Vol. 1, No. 5, August 1977, pp. 243-289.
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==External links==
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* [http://www.chiappa.net/~jnc/tech/arpanet.html ARPANET Technical Information]
  
 
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Revision as of 21:51, 15 March 2018

The Interface Message Processor (or IMP, as they were universally known) was the packet switch which the ARPANET was made out of; the IMPs were connected to each other via high-speed dedicated point-point telephone links, connected to the IMPs via a modem. All ARPANET hosts connected to an IMP, using the Host-to-IMP Protocol.

A message from one Host to another was sent via the source Host's IMP, then routed through some number (possibly zero) intermediate IMPs, then through the destination Host's IMP (possibly the same IMP as the first one, in which case the message never went over a telephone line), on to the destination Host.

The IMPs were Honeywell minicomputers, with added special high-speed modem interfaces, and asynchronous bit-serial Host interfaces.

Further reading

  • J.M. McQuillan, W.R. Crowther, B.P. Cosell, D.C. Walden, and F.E. Heart, "Improvements in the Design and Performance of the ARPA Network", Proceedings AFIPS, 1972 FJCC, Vol. 40, pp. 741-754.

External links