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Michael Allen Wingfield papers, 1969-1982
LSC.2327
LSC.2327
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Table of contents
Title: Michael Allen Wingfield papers
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2327
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.8 linear feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1969-1982
Abstract: Michael Allen Wingfield, former UCLA engineering graduate student, was part of a team responsible for installing the Interface
Message Processor (IMP) and creating the first Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) node at the University
of California, Los Angeles. He designed the hardware interface linking the Scientific Data Systems (SDS) Sigma 7 computer
at UCLA with an IMP to connect to the ARPANET in 1969, making UCLA the first site to receive an IMP. He also implemented Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) for Unix, a family of multiuser computer operating systems, in 1979. His papers
detail the design specifications of the IMP for ARPANET and the TCP/IP source code for UNIX, and include: handwritten notes,
manuals, specifications, computer printouts, and photographs.
Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance through our electronic
paging system using the "Request items" button.
Creator:
Wingfield, Michael Allen
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. All requests to access special collections material must be made in
advance using the request button located on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Copyright to portions of this collection has been assigned to the UCLA Library Special Collections. The library can grant
permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. Commercial use may require additional rights that must
be determined and obtained by the researcher. All requests for copyright permission to publish must be submitted in writing
to Library Special Collections. Credit shall be given as follows: The Regents of the University of California on behalf of
the UCLA Library Special Collections.
[Identification of item], Michael Allen Wingfield papers (Collection 2327). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young
Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Donated by Michael Allen Wingfield, 2011.
This collection was acquired by University Archivist Charlotte Brown for a proposed Kleinrock Center for Internet Studies
(KCIS) at UCLA in 2011. The former collection number was KCIS003.
Processed by Sonia Collazo and Jason Hong in 2013 with support from UCLA University Archivist Charlotte Brown and Kleinrock
Internet History Center. Processed by Cecilia Tsai with supervision from Kelly Besser, 2017.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
8133227
In June of 1969, Michael Allen Wingfield, an engineering graduate student, was asked by Steve Crocker at UCLA to design the
hardware interface between the Scientific Data Systems (SDS) Sigma 7 computer and an Interface Message Processor (IMP) from
Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN) to connect the UCLA system as the first node on the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
(ARPANET), the precursor to the internet. After reviewing the BBN 1822 IMP interface specification, Wingfield drew up flow
charts, logic diagrams, and a test program for the IMP when it was received from BBN in September 1969.
The ARPANET, now the internet, was born on August 30, 1969 when BBN delivered the first IMP to Professor Leonard Kleinrock's
Network Measurements Center, a role to which UCLA was assigned as one of the first four sites of the ARPANET to provide either
network support services or unique resources. Kleinrock and his students, including Crocker, were deeply involved in the development
of techniques to monitor the ARPANET's early performance. Their presence made it natural that UCLA obtained the first node
on the ARPANET.
In 1976, Wingfield was hired by BBN, and in 1979, he went on to become a project manager with the National Bureau of Standards
to provide a three-node network and the latest protocols. During this time, Vint Cerf, Jon Postel, and others were developing
the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to replace the Network Control Protocol (NCP) in order to better
span interconnected networks. When the TCP4 protocol was specified, Wingfield implemented TCP/IP on a UNIX computer using
the C programming language.
The Michael Allen Wingfield papers include handwritten notes, manuals, guides, booklets, photographs which detail the design
of the Interface Message Processor (IMP), and computer printouts which include the source code for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol (TCP/IP) that Wingfield wrote for UNIX.
The collection is arranged into the following series:
- Series 1: Interface Message Processor (IMP)-Host Interface Specifications
- Series 2: ARPANET Manuals and Workbooks
- Series 3: Source Code for TCP/IP for UNIX
Within Series 2, manuals and documents are arranged chronologically. Within Series 3, the computer code was kept in its existing
order to reflect the program design.
Leonard Kleinrock papers . Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Computer Science Department. Student papers, abstracts, and reports. 1965-1977. . Available at Library Special Collections, University Archives, UCLA.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
United States. Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Wingfield, Michael Allen -- Archives
ARPANET (Computer network).