Photos: The tech that holds up the net

Packet switching turns 40...

Packet switching is one of the crucial technologies that made the internet possible.

It's 40 years since the technique was invented by a team at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Bushy Park, Middlesex, led by professor Donald Davies (pictured in 1974).

Speaking to silicon.com, NPL chief scientist, professor John Pethica explained: "The whole idea of packet switching is what underlies the idea of a set of distributed nodes, which is now the internet. It's the hardware side of the internet."

Photo credit: NPL

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  1. 1. Richard Sarson

    Good of you to recognize this important unsung British pioneer. Without Davies and that other Brit, Tim Berners Lee, the Net would not be what it is today. How many people in this America-centric world are aware of that?

    • 6 September 2008 13:04
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