RFC 829 (rfc829) - Page 2 of 5
Packet satellite technology reference sources
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RFC 829 November 1982 Remote User Telnet Service THE ATLANTIC PACKET SATELLITE EXPERIMENT (SATNET) In 1973, DARPA began the development of a packet satellite system which would support the sharing of a common, high speed channel among many ground stations. Using an INTELSAT-IV satellite, the Atlantic Packet Satellite experiment was carried out with the cooperation and support of the British Post Office, COMSAT Corporation, Linkabit Corporation, and Bolt Beranek and Newman Corporation, later joined by the Norwegian Telecommunication Administration and the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (NDRE). Along with University College London and COMSAT Laboratories, NDRE became one of the major users of the SATNET system. During 1975-1978, SATNET underwent a broad range of performance evaluations and tests. Since 1979, it has served as a stable support for international experiments and demonstrations of command and control technology of interest to DARPA, NDRE and the U.K. Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE). Late in 1982, a ground station was added to connect the German Aeronautics and Space Research Establishment (DFVLR) into the system. The early development of SATNET is outlined in [14]. The system design is documented in [15-22]. Experience with the operation of the SATNET is reported in [23-24] and experimental results in [25-26]. Potential services which might be supported by this technology are discussed in [27]. The integration of the packet satellite technology into a larger, multiple packet network context is discussed in [28-29]. The system is expected to continue in use to support joint research by DARPA, RSRE, NDRE, DFVLR and UCL. DARPA and the U.S. Defense Communications Agency are experimenting with a 3 megabit/second domestic packet satellite system to determine whether packetized voice and data services can be integrated economically using this technology. DARPA and the U.S. Naval Electronic Systems Command recently demonstrated a Mobile Access Terminal Network (MATNET) which uses packet satellite techniques to support ship-ship and ship-shore communication over a shared FLTSATCOM satellite channel [30]. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The development of Packet Satellite technology has involved many institutions and individuals, but special credit for the successful realization of the SATNET and its successor systems must be given to Dr. Robert E. Kahn, Director, Information Processing Techniques Office, DARPA, for his continuous support and technical contributions throughout the development and maturation of this technology. Cerf
