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Network Working Group R. Braden Request for Comments: 3109 ISI Category: Informational R. Bush

             Request to Move STD 39 to Historic Status

Status of this Memo

 This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
 not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
 memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

 This memo changes the status of STD 39, BBN Report 1822,
 "Specification of the Interconnection of a Host and an IMP", from
 Standard to Historic.

1. Introduction

 The Internet design grew out of the pioneering packet-switched
 network called the ARPAnet.  The ARPAnet was a mostly-US national
 network built of mini-computer packet switches, called Interface
 Message Processors (IMPs), that were linked by 56kbps leased
 telephone lines.  The IMPs were designed and built by Bolt, Beranek,
 and Neumann (BBN) under contract with ARPA, beginning in 1968.  One
 of BBN's first tasks was to define the standard hardware interface
 between a host and a colocated IMP.  This interface was described in
 BBN Report 1822 [BBN1822], which was a bible for the administrators
 of the many different hosts that connected to the ARPAnet.

 The BBN Report 1822 host/IMP hardware interface was bit-serial and
 asynchronous.  In 1968, the 8-bit byte had not yet been adopted as an
 industry standard, so the interface had to cope with word-based
 machines with arbitrary word length -- some common word lengths were
 8, 12, 16, 24, 36, and 60, but there were others.  From the software
 viewpoint, Report 1822 defined what would today be called the link-
 layer access protocol for the ARPAnet.

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 In 1983 the US DoD moved the ARPAnet technology to TCP/IP and split
 off parts of the ARPAnet to form a production facility called MILNET.
 The DoD mandated a byte-oriented, X.25-based interface for the MILNET
 IMPs.  However, the machines on the research-oriented ARPAnet
 continued to use the 1822 interface under the new Internet protocol
 suite.  Therefore, BBN Report 1822 was made an Internet Standard, STD
 39, although the report was not republished as an RFC.

2. Action

 Since the ARPAnet technology and the BBN 1822 interface are no longer
 in use, the IESG is moving BBN Report 1822 from Standard to Historic
 status.  The STD number 39 is retired.

3. Security Considerations

 Moving STD 39 to historic has no known effect on the security of the
 Internet.

4. References

 [BBN1822] STD 39 is BBN Report 1822 "Specification for the
           Interconnection of a Host and an IMP".  This can be ordered
           from Bolt, Beranek, and Newman, 10 Moulton Street,
           Cambridge, MA 02138.

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5. Authors' Addresses

 Robert Braden
 USC/Information Sciences Institute
 4676 Admiralty Way
 Marina del Rey, CA 90292-6695

 Phone: +1 310-822-1511
 EMail: braden@isi.edu

 Randy Bush
 5147 Crystal Springs
 Bainbridge Island, WA US-98110

 Phone: +1 206-780-0431
 EMail: randy@psg.com

 John C. Klensin
 1770 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 322
 Cambridge, MA 02140, USA

 EMail: klensin@jck.com

Braden, et al. Informational [Page 3] RFC 3109 Request to Move STD 39 to Historic Status May 2001

6. Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.

 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
 and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
 kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
 included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
 document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
 the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
 Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
 developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
 copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
 followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
 English.

 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
 revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
 TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
 BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
 HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
 MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

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