Paul Baran was a visionary, but it is worth noting that there are multiple versions of the early history.
First read http://www.livinginternet.com/i/iw_packet_inv.htm for the basic, non-controversial background. You'll find out that packet switching was invented first by Paul Baran. Then independently by Donald Davies. And then Arpanet was created by Leonard Kleinrock.
The controversy is over whose work Leonard Kleinrock was aware of and used. The version that I've heard is that he was more aware of Donald Davies work than Paul Baran's. Which is why we call the technology packet switching as Davies did today rather than block switching as Baran did. According to this version, Paul Baran did his work first, but was not in the direct path to the actual ARPANET.
The other version, of course, is that Paul Baran's work was the basis of Leonard Kleinrock's work. Which would make ARPANET an entirely American invention, and would make Donald Davies an interesting side note.
"After proving survivability Baran and his team needed to show proof of concept for this design such that it would be able to be built. [...] construct a network that leveraged this new insight of redundant links.
The result of this was one of the first store-and-forward data layer switching protocols, a link-state/distance vector routing protocol, and an unproved connection-oriented transport protocol. [...]
The design flew in the face of telephony design of the time, placing inexpensive and unreliable nodes at the center of the network, and more intelligent terminating 'multiplexer' devices at the endpoints. In Baran's words, unlike the telephone company's equipment, his design didn't require expensive 'gold plated' components to be reliable."
Paul Baran, one of the key figures in the creation of the Internet, passed away on Saturday at his home in Palo Alto. His passing is a great loss; his presence made our world better.
It was only a few weeks ago on this site that I was quoting Paul Baran's RAND research note from my memory of studying his visionary ideas during college. This man was an inspiration to the technology world.
First read http://www.livinginternet.com/i/iw_packet_inv.htm for the basic, non-controversial background. You'll find out that packet switching was invented first by Paul Baran. Then independently by Donald Davies. And then Arpanet was created by Leonard Kleinrock.
The controversy is over whose work Leonard Kleinrock was aware of and used. The version that I've heard is that he was more aware of Donald Davies work than Paul Baran's. Which is why we call the technology packet switching as Davies did today rather than block switching as Baran did. According to this version, Paul Baran did his work first, but was not in the direct path to the actual ARPANET.
The other version, of course, is that Paul Baran's work was the basis of Leonard Kleinrock's work. Which would make ARPANET an entirely American invention, and would make Donald Davies an interesting side note.