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The Universal Postal Service: How Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn Built the Internet

Early computer networks were isolated corporate islands that could not speak to one another; Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn designed an open universal protocol that connects any computer on Earth regardless of hardware. Published in 1974, TCP/IP created the architecture of the Internet, allowing billions of devices to communicate seamlessly across a unified global network.

Author
Vinton G. Cerf et al.
Published
1974
Journal
IEEE Transactions on Communications
Last updated
September 2026
The Universal Postal Service: How Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn Built the Internet

In the early 1970s, universities and military labs had built several isolated experimental computer networks, but they were completely incompatible. IBM computers could not talk to DEC machines, and satellite networks could not connect to radio networks, leaving computing fragmented into isolated technological silos.

Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn invented the universal postal system of the digital world: TCP/IP. Instead of trying to maintain rigid dedicated lines, TCP chops any file—an email, a picture, or a video—into millions of tiny digital postcards that travel independently along any wire before automatically reassembling in perfect order at their destination.

This open protocol created the global Internet. By connecting billions of smartphones and supercomputers across every country, by democratizing access to human knowledge, and by powering the modern digital economy, TCP/IP built the connected world.

Reference

Cerf, V., & Kahn, R. (1974). A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication. IEEE Transactions on Communications, 22(5), 637–648.

Title

A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication

Abstract

A protocol that supports the sharing of resources that exist in different packet switching networks is presented. The protocol provides for variation in individual network packet sizes, transmission failures, sequencing, flow control, end-to-end error checking, and the creation and destruction of logical process-to-process connections. Some implementation issues are considered, and problems such as internetwork routing, accounting, and timeouts are exposed.

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