Folks,
The spirit of Bob Braden's reply is accurate in responding to the
earlier postings.
However, I thought it useful to clarify some of the details.
1. CNUCE was the Italian participant in the packet satellite experiment
(SATNET). SATNET demonstrated packet switching over a shared satellite
channel and enabled connectivity between the US and multiple countries
in Europe in lieu of using the earlier ARPANET links to Norway, England
(and briefly to) Germany. The Italian earth station was installed at
Fucino sometime in the very early 1980s, I believe. This enabled the an
early Internet connection to Italy. The lead researcher at CNUCE in Pisa
was Luciano Lenzini.
2. The German SATNET earth station was installed in Raisting, Germany in
the very late 1970s. There were two German participants in those early
Internet efforts. DFVLR (the German equivalent of NASA) which was in
Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, and IABG which was in Munich.
The lead researchers were Hans Dodel at DFVLR and Horst Clausen at IABG.
The German defense ministry was also involved to some extent.
3. There were separate arrangements made by DARPA with each of the
organizations. NATO may have been involved, but did not play a leading role.
4. The first SATNET node was installed in the US in 1975 at the existing
ground station in Etam, W.VA. The first European SATNET node was
installed in the UK at about the same time, the second a few years later
in Norway (via a ground station in Tanum, Sweden), then the third in
Germany and the fourth in Italy.
5. Vint and I were both at DARPA at the time and both actively involved
along with Col. David Russell who did the early program planning.
Bob
On 3/14/14 4:30 PM, Bob Braden wrote:
On 3/12/2014 3:26 PM, Francesco Fondelli wrote:co
I read from my scribbled computer science lecture notes: "CNUCE
(Centro Nazionale Universitario di Calcolo Elettronico) in Italy,
Pisa, was connected to ARPANET in April 1986...". I think Italy was
the third country :-)
http://cng1.iet.unipi.it/wiki/index.php/Luciano_Lenzini
http://www.isti.cnr.it/about/cnuce_timeline.php
ciao
fra
Your lecture notes are incorrect, I believe. CNUCE got an Internet
connection, not an
ARPAnet connection, in 1986. That was 3 years after the ARPAnet went
over from
NCP to TCP/IP. Evidence: the 2nd URL in your message!
Another European site for early TCP/IP experimentation was DFVLR in
Germany.
(By early, I mean between 1981 and 1885, I think.)
Their SATNET ground station was in Oberpfaffenhofen. The (original,
ARPA-funded)
IAB met once in Oberpfaffnehofen during Oktoberfest. Horst Clausen was
our
genial host.
The early Internet sites in the UK, Norway, and Germany were a result
of a NATO-fostered
research collaboration among defense-establishment labs in each of the
countries. Vint
Cerf at ARPA ran the show.
Bob Braden