Description
From 1969 to 1974, Martin Thrope was a member of the of the team at Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN), that implemented the ARPANET,
the precursor to the Internet. His papers detail the BBN company of that time, and his work developing procedures for reports
of network outages, installing Interface Message Processor (IMP) systems at various sites around the country, and designing
specialized interfaces to connect a variety of host computers to the IMPs for connection to the ARPANET.
Background
From 1969 to 1974, after completing undergraduate studies at Harvard, Martin Thrope was a member of the team at Bolt Beranek
& Newman (BBN) that implemented the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) for the Advanced Research Projects
Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense. The BBN team led by Frank Heart developed the Interface Message Processors
(IMPs) which connected host systems to the ARPANET. Thrope connected host systems to the ARPANET, and made key contributions
to the ARPANET architecture. Thrope developed a set of diagnostic procedures for producing specific information on line failures
for reports of network outages of both IMPs and the phone lines that connected them, to be relayed to the phone company offices
responsible for each line. BBN established a Network Control Center (NCC) run by Thrope which used a minicomputer, the NCC
host, to analyze IMP status reports, print out alerts, and display the status of each IMP on a set of light panels mounted
in wood grain box. For the NCC, Thrope compiled and maintained a comprehensive set of useful reference information on each
IMP site and each phone line. In addition to his role in network operations, Thrope also designed and installed specialized
interfaces sold by BBN to connect a variety of mainframe host computers to the IMPs at their sites. Toward the end of his
time at BBN, he was a member of the team that designed a multiprocessor version of the IMP and its specialized hardware interfaces.
After leaving BBN in 1974, Thrope earned his MBA degree from Harvard, followed by various management roles in organizations
providing computer based products and services for the retail and financial industries.
Extent
1 Linear Feet
(1 carton)
Restrictions
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Availability
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