Toward reliable operation of minicomputer-based terminals on a TIP

Abstract

The present protocol for communication between a TIP and attached terminals requires character-oriented transmission and provides for no error control. In the design of this protocol, it was apparently assumed that the majority of terminals attached to a TIP would be interactive, be normally used in a character-by-character mode both for transmission to and from the terminal, and normally support a human user who would in effect be in the communication loop. The human user would thus be in a position to detect any significant telecommunication-induced errors both by direct observation of the character stream and, more importantly, by examining the computer output in the context of his ongoing interaction.