Elon University

Kahn, Robert E.

Robert E. (Bob) Kahn was hired by Lawrence Roberts at IPTO in 1972 to work on networking technologies. He organized a demonstration of ARPAnet between 40 machines and a Terminal Interface Processor at International Conference on Computer Communications that year, sharing the idea of the network for the first time with a group of observers from around the world. In 1973, he posed the Internet problem and began a research program at ARPA to look into it, setting four goals for design: 1) any network should be able to connect with any other; 2) there will be no central distribution or control; error recovery Ð lost packets will be retransmitted; 4) no internal changes will have to be made to a computer to connect it to the network. In 1973 he presented his basic Internet ideas with Vinton Cerf at the International Network Working Group gathering. In 1974 he published (with Cerf) a paper on Packet Network interconnection that detailed the design of a Transmission Control Program (TCP). (Pioneer/Originator.)