[ih] NBS seminar on TCP/IP (was TCP RTT Estimator)

[Greg Skinner]

Just to clarify, I have listened to the computer-freaks podcasts about Joe Haughney.  He (and his successors) had access to information about the TCP/IP implementations that were discussed at the meetings summarized in the IEN notes.  So in theory, there was a means for them to raise concerns about retransmission algorithms, or collect information that could be passed on to people who had those concerns.  Furthermore, they were getting feedback on the tcp-ip list about implementation concerns, in general. [1]

So far, based on what I’ve read, I don’t see any evidence that the concerns of the military, or users of lossy networks, were given insufficient consideration.  I see that there were features left out of RFC 793 that could have mitigated some retransmission issues that impacted performance.  But there were DCA people involved who, in theory, could have questioned the wisdom of omitting those features, at least.

--gregbo

[1] https://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/other/tcpdigest_paper.txt


> On Apr 25, 2025, at 11:11 AM, Jack Haverty <jack at 3kitty.org> wrote:
> 
> Since I'm listed as one of the speakers, I was probably there.  But I don't remember that particular seminar at all.  OTOH, during the early 1980s I went from Boston to DC probably at least once a week, often to brief someone or some group on The Internet.  I do recall going to NBS, but can't remember exactly why.   It certainly could have been to give a talk on TCP for an hour to some audience.
> 
> That seminar was almost certainly part of DCA's efforts to support the standardization of TCP as a DoD Standard.  See, for example, RFC 761, published in January 1980 - with a seminar scheduled for November.
> 
> The adoption of TCP as a requirement for DoD procurements (not just research contracts) triggered a lot of big and small government contractors to get interested in exactly what this thing was that they were going to have to implement.  I recall even getting a phone call from a cousin, who worked at a big government shop, to get a little free education and advice.
> 
> So the NBS seminar was probably more of an educational venue for people new to TCP; it was likely not a place where nuances of retransmission algorithms would be of interest.
> 
> At the time, the ARPANET had been transferred from ARPA to DCA.  Research results were progressing towards operation, part of the "technology transfer" impetus.  Joe Haughney was in charge of the ARPANET in DCA Code 535.  IIRC, there's a lot more detail in the podcasts which Joe's daughter Christine put together recently - see https://www.inc.com/podcasts/computer-freaks
> 
> Jack Haverty