Terminal Interface Unit
The Terminal Interface Unit (usually referred to by the acronym, TIU) was a software package created by SRI which ran on a PDP-11 and allowed a number of users at terminals to connect to time-sharing hosts over the nascent prototype Internet, using TELNET over TCP/IP. It was initially targeted at use over the prototype Packet Radio Network, but was later eventually adapted to operate attached to the ARPANET.
It is historically important, as one of the very earliest TCP/IP implementations (although its origins date back to before the separation of TCP and IP into separate protocols). It was one of 6 prototype implementations of TCP/IP tested at the ground-breaking TCP Bakeoff held at ISI on 27 January, 1979.
It was initially able to connect to networks which used the 1822 interface, using the Stanford 1822 Interface, and later the the ACC MLH-DH/LSI11.
Software
The TIU was written in MACRO-11, and ran on the MOS operating system (created at the time of the TIU work). The code and documentation have been saved (see links below). (The code there has been modified to operate over a local area network built at LCS, but the TCP and IP layers are essentially un-modified.)
See also
External links
- Terminal Interface Unit - source code
- DSP - source code for the DSP module of the TIU
- Terminal Interface Unit Notebook: Volume 1 - User's Guide
- Terminal Interface Unit Notebook: Volume 2 - Software Documentation - information on building system loads, as well as MOS documentation
- Terminal Interface Unit Notebook: Volume 3 - Hardware Documentation
- Terminal Interface Unit Notebook: Volume 4 - Support Software Documentation - PDP-10-resident support software
