Computer Science · Computer Networks
A topic within Computer Networks, itself one of 11 topics in that field and part of Computer Science.
Assumes you know the vocabulary.
Internet Protocol
Jon Postel · 1981
Specifies a connectionless, best-effort packet delivery service and pushes reliability entirely to the endpoints, the decision that let heterogeneous…
+2 more at this level
Primary sources and full treatments.
A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication
Vinton G. Cerf & Robert E. Kahn · 1974
Proposes that networks of different technologies interconnect by agreeing only on how gateways pass packets between them, the design that became…
4 works
Jon Postel
Specifies a connectionless, best-effort packet delivery service and pushes reliability entirely to the endpoints, the decision that let heterogeneous networks interconnect without central coordination.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Jon Postel
Specifies a reliable byte stream built on top of IP's unreliable datagrams using sequence numbers, acknowledgements and a sliding window, and remains the base that every later congestion-control scheme modifies rather than replaces.
link checked 17 Sept 2026David D. Clark
Argues the internet's protocols were shaped by an explicit priority ordering - survivability first, efficiency and cost last - and that this ordering explains design choices that otherwise look arbitrary.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Vinton G. Cerf & Robert E. Kahn
Proposes that networks of different technologies interconnect by agreeing only on how gateways pass packets between them, the design that became TCP/IP.
link checked 17 Sept 2026