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+Network Working Group                                           NIC 5739
+Request for Comments: 96                               Richard W. Watson
+Category: Informational                                          SRI-ARC
+                                                        12 February 1971
+
+
+An Interactive Network Experiment to Study Modes of Access the Network
+Information Center
+
+1.   Introduction
+
+     This NWG/RFC outlines the framework for a simple interactive
+experiment to study modes of access to the Network Information Center
+(NIC). A detailed specification for the initial access conventions to
+the NIC is contained in NWG/RFC 97, NIC (5740,). The initial online
+service to be provided by the Network Information Center are oriented
+around the SRI-ARC (ARC) Online System, typewriter version - NLS(T).
+These services will involve creation, manipulation, searching, and
+distribution of symbolic material (text initially). The initial Online
+System was display oriented and considerable development has gone into
+the study of features required for a comfortable interface to the user.
+In preparation for use with the Network Information Center, a typewriter
+oriented version has been developed. Assuming good computer response and
+a typewriter terminal operating at 30 char/sec, the system provides
+powerful and comfortable to use capabilities for handling structured
+textual material.
+
+     The question to which the experiment, to be described below,
+addresses itself is to determine how to extend these capabilities
+through the network to users at remote sites, possibly operating 10
+char/sec and higher speed terminals through fairly heavily loaded
+systems. This experiment will also provide useful information about the
+interactive characteristics of the network, and guidelines for designers
+of other interactive systems to be used with the network. We propose
+that this experiment will be conducted with the assistance and
+cooperation of one other site. We estimate that the experiment will
+require about three calendar months. In order to minimize the resources
+required for the experiment, we will collect meaningful response time
+statistics that are easy to obtain with presetly existing metering
+facilities in the SRI and cooperating site systems, and network
+performance measuring facilities. We will not conduct formal
+productivity studies with the users of the connection, but will obtain
+their subjective impressions on use of the various connection modes. The
+result will be data indicating the costs and benefits obtained using the
+types of access described below. We would expect that this information
+would be useful to sites in determining how they want to implement
+access to the NIC and other interactive sites.
+
+
+
+
+                                                                [Page 1]
+
+NETWORK WORKING GROUP           RFC #96                         NIC 5739
+
+
+During the period of the experiment, other sites will want to access the
+NIC as they come up on the network. We would recommend a simple
+approach, such as described in Section 2b, initially with a possible
+change later if the experiment indicates improved response and/or human
+factors coupling can be obtained with one of the other approaches,
+NWG/RFC 97, NIC (5740,) specifies this initial access approach in
+detail.
+
+2.   Getting Connected to the Network
+
+   2a.   Introduction
+
+        There are three basic approaches to allowing remote sites to
+   connect to the NIC through the network, which we can call User
+   Program Telnet, NLS(T) Front End, Monitor Telnet. Each of these is
+   discussed below. Each approach requires code which will run in the
+   remote host.
+
+        We assume that standard conventions for Telnet programs will be
+   specified by the Network Working Group. In the companion paper
+   (NWG/RFC 97), NIC (5740,)) we include recommended conventions on
+   solving those problems which we are aware exists relative to initial
+   NIC access, although we have tried to specify conventions useful more
+   generally. The NLS(T) Front End Program would interface to the Telnet
+   Program.
+
+        We assume that no matter which approach is taken, the software
+   at the ARC end use the information obtained during the connection
+   process to log-in the remote terminal under a general account and
+   will place the terminal user in the NIC version of NLS, which we will
+   call NLS(NIC) for short. The NLS(NIC) will ask the terminal user for
+   his initials. The remote user then has access to all NIC facilities.
+
+        The initial typewriter oriented system accepts commands of the
+   general form:
+
+   <command words> <operand> <delimiter> ... <operand> <delimiter>
+
+        The <command words> is usually two words, the first to indicate
+   a general operation class, and the second to indicate a general data
+   structure type to be operated on. The <operand>s specify specific
+   data entities to be operated upon, or instructions to adjust NLS
+   parameters.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                                                [Page 2]
+
+NETWORK WORKING GROUP           RFC #96                         NIC 5739
+
+
+        The system at ARC is full duplex and allows the user to type the
+   first character of the command words and the system immediately echos
+   the remaining characters as feedback and support for the user. Other
+   feedback is echoed where appropriate. The question we need to answer
+   is what changes in this system will be required to suit it to the
+   network and remote site constraints. We now look at problems existing
+   at the remote sites.
+
+        To gain connection to the NIC we assume that the user logs into
+   his local system and calls up a subsystem or cusp. This subsystem or
+   system program, Telnet program will be used to access other sites as
+   well. The remote terminal and its controlling software system can
+   operate in three basic modes as seen by the host subsystems
+
+      Case 1 - Character at a time half duplex
+
+      Case 2 - Character at a time full duplex
+
+      Case 3 - Line at a time half duplex
+
+        Although line at a time is full duplex is a logical possibility,
+   no such approach is in general use and we ignore it in the following
+   discussion.
+
+   In the discussions to follow, in Section 2b, 2c and 2d, we describe
+   the modes of access which we would like to investigate
+   experimentally.  We want to study user reaction with 10 char/sec, 15
+   char/sec, and 30 char/sec devices.
+
+   2b.   User Program Telnet
+
+        Consider the above classes of terminal in turn and the ways the
+   Telnet program might handle communications between them and the NIC.
+   The Telnet program might allow both full and half duplex
+   communication as specified by the user.
+
+      2b1.   Case 1 - Character at a Time Full Duplex
+
+            The simplest approach would be for the Telnet program to
+      take each character received from the terminal (except a special
+      character or character sequence needed to escape back to the
+      terminals host system), convert the code to ASCII and transmit it
+      as a message to NLS(NIC). NLS(NIC) would handle all character
+      echoing and transmit echo messages back to the Telnet for actual
+      transmission to the terminal in the appropriate terminal code.
+      This mode of communication involves full duplex transmission user
+      to user and is probably the severest test of the interactive
+      characteristics of the host-network-host system.
+
+
+
+                                                                [Page 3]
+
+NETWORK WORKING GROUP           RFC #96                         NIC 5739
+
+
+            Depending on loading at the remote host, on the network, and
+      at ARC, round trip delay for simple character echoing may be
+      several seconds. Experience in communication between the old ARC
+      940 and a heavily loaded PDP-10 at Utah showed occasional delays
+      on the order of 4 or 5 seconds and longer for single character
+      echoing. Human factors considerations in use of NLS(NIC) indicate
+      that such delays would be frustrating to the user. A more cageful
+      study of this mode of communication should give a base against
+      which to measure the other modes of communication.
+
+      2b2.   Case 2 - Character at a Time Half Duplex
+
+         There are two subcases which we treat identically:
+
+         i) The Telnet program sees a half duplex terminal.
+
+         ii) The Telnet program sees a full duplex terminal, but
+         provides echoing so as to make the terminal half duplex as seen
+         by NIC.
+
+         With the character at a time half duplex case the NIC program
+         will operate in two modes:
+
+         a) short mode
+
+         b) long mode
+
+         In short mode the user will type in the command and receive on
+         his terminal only the characters echoed by his system and the
+         NIC response to the command.
+
+         In long mode. the user will receive feedback from NIC at an
+         appropriate point in the command. We want to see how novice and
+         experienced users feel about working in these two modes, given
+         the delays in the system response.
+
+      2b3.   Case 3 - Line at a Time Half Duplex
+
+         From the point of ciew of the NIC this case is essentially the
+         same as Case 2.  From the point of ciew of the network this
+         case is a more efficient use fo the network as the messages are
+         longer.  This case is also more efficient for the user host
+         system as it will require fewer calls to the Telnet subsystem;
+         response for Case 3 may be better than Case 2.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                                                [Page 4]
+
+NETWORK WORKING GROUP           RFC #96                         NIC 5739
+
+
+   2c.   The NLS(T) Front End
+
+           In this mode of communication, the subsystem which handles
+      communication with the NIC is to perform some of the interactive
+      and other tasks now performed by NLS(T). The type of tasks to be
+      performed are echoing of the characters typed and the additional
+      feedback characters for the full spell out of the command words,
+      parsing of the command string, error handling where appropriate,
+      and the sending of a parsed string as a message to NLS(T). If it
+      should turn out that this mode of communication is the one
+      preferred by sites, we would expect to supply an example version
+      of the Front End program written in some language to serve as a
+      model for implementation. The Network Working Group may want to
+      give further study to a standard language for specifying such
+      programs as indicated in NWG/RFC 51, NIC (4752,).
+
+   2d.   Monitor Telnet
+
+           Much of the response delay in the experiments of Section 2b
+      is expected to result from the fact that the Telnet described
+      there is a user program. We will run the experiments of Section 2b
+      with the appropriate Telnet routines resident as a part of the
+      user host monitor.
+
+
+
+
+          [ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]
+          [ into the online RFC archives by Henrik Johansson 4/97 ]
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+                                                                [Page 5]
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