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Tymnet: Evolution of Packet Switching

Tymnet was a packet switching network created by Tymshare, Inc. in the 1970s that allowed different types of computers and terminals to exchange data. It became part of Concert Communications Services, which was jointly owned by MCI and British Telecom. The network used circuit-oriented nodes and was controlled by central supervisors, though it had backup supervisors that could take over if the primary failed. It supported remote login, file transfer, and both interactive and auxiliary data circuits between connected devices.

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Dr-Arindam Chakraborty
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69 views2 pages

Tymnet: Evolution of Packet Switching

Tymnet was a packet switching network created by Tymshare, Inc. in the 1970s that allowed different types of computers and terminals to exchange data. It became part of Concert Communications Services, which was jointly owned by MCI and British Telecom. The network used circuit-oriented nodes and was controlled by central supervisors, though it had backup supervisors that could take over if the primary failed. It supported remote login, file transfer, and both interactive and auxiliary data circuits between connected devices.

Uploaded by

Dr-Arindam Chakraborty
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Tymnet

A value-added, packet switching network that enables many varieties of


terminals and computers to exchange data. It became part of Concert
Communications Services, owned by MCI and British Telecom (BT).
A United States-wide commercial computer network, created by
Tymshare, Inc. some time before 1970, and used for remote login and
file transfer. The network public went live in November 1971.

In its original implementation, it consisted of fairly simple circuit-


oriented nodes, whose circuits were created by central network
supervisors writing into the appropriate nodes' "permuter tables". The
supervisors also performed login validations as well as circuit
management. Circuits were character oriented and the network was
oriented toward interactive character-by-character full-duplex
communications circuits.

The network had more than one supervisor running, but only one was
active, the others being put to sleep with "sleeping pill" messages. If the
active supervisor went down, all the others would wake up and battle for
control of the network. After the battle, the supervisor with the highest
pre-set priority would dominate, and the network would then again be
controlled by only one supervisor. (During the takeover battle, the net
consisted of subsets of itself across which new circuits could not be
built). Existing circuits were not affected by supervisor switches.
There was a clever scheme to switch the echoing function between the
local node and the host based on whether or not a special character had
been typed by the user. Data transfers were also possible via "auxiliary
circuits".

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