computer science

Terrestrial Wideband Network

Terrestrial Wideband Network is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Terrestrial Wideband Network rather than just read about it. In short: The Terrestrial Wideband Network was a DARPA-sponsored experimental network designed to support research in high-speed networking protocols and distributed multimedia applications. It was built and operated by BBN Technologies from May 1989 to about 1991; although originally planned to turn into the Defense Research Internet, it instead evolved into the Defense Simulation Internet.

Key takeaways

Terrestrial Wideband Network belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Terrestrial Wideband Network to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Terrestrial Wideband Network from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Terrestrial Wideband Network was a DARPA-sponsored experimental network designed to support research in high-speed networking protocols and distributed multimedia applications. It was built and operated by BBN Technologies from May 1989 to about 1991; although originally planned to turn into the Defense Research Internet, it instead evolved into the Defense Simulation Internet. The Terrestrial Wideband Network was a trans-continental network implemented via Wideband Packet Switches (based on BBN Butterfly parallel computers) connected by T1 circuits. It replaced the 3 megabit/second Satellite Wideband Network, which had been in operation for the previous 8 years. Because it was based on a single cross-country T1 trunk from the DARPA National Networking Testbed (NNT), the Terrestrial Wideband Network's topology was linear, i.e., a series of packet switches connected in a line by T1 trunks. Each T1 link ran at 1.544 megabits per second. The Terrestrial Wideband Network provided standard Internet Protocol transport, but also multicast services and the experimental, connection-oriented Internet Stream Protocol (ST-II). Individual host computers could gain access to ST-II features via the Host Access Protocol (HAP), specified in RFC 907-A. Internally, the network was based on the Dual Bus Protocol (DBP), a descendant of the QPSX protocol proposed as the IEEE 802.6 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) standard, enhanced to provide bandwidth reservations with access fairness, and to operate over long distances.

References "Terrestrial Wideband Network (DRI)", Katy Yoon, in The User's Directory of Computer Networks, ed. Tracy Laquey, Digital Press, pages 222-224, 1990. "The DARPA wideband network protocol", W. Edmond, K. Leib, C. Topolcic, ACM SIGCOMM '90 Proceedings of the ACM symposium on Communications architectures & protocols, pages 79-89. "Terrestrial Wideband Network", NSF Network Service Center (NNSC), Section 5.21, September 27, 1989. Distributed Interactive Simulation of Combat, Office of Technology Assessment, DIANE Publishing Company, 1996, page 27.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Terrestrial Wideband Network

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Terrestrial Wideband Network claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Terrestrial Wideband Network before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Terrestrial Wideband Network ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Terrestrial Wideband Network

In research: Terrestrial Wideband Network appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Terrestrial Wideband Network in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Terrestrial Wideband Network is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics DARPA, History of telecommunications in the United States, Wide area networks, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Terrestrial Wideband Network outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Terrestrial Wideband Network in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Terrestrial Wideband Network means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Terrestrial Wideband Network out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Terrestrial Wideband Network in simple terms?

Why does Terrestrial Wideband Network matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Terrestrial Wideband Network?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Terrestrial Wideband Network.