Historical Background of Computer Science and Engineering

With the advancement of VLASIC technology, and particularly, after the invention of microprocessors in the early 1970,s the computers became smaller in size and less expensive, but with significant increase in processing power

. New breed of low-cost computers known as mini and personal computers were introduced

. Instead of having a single central computer, an organization could now afford to own a number of computers located in different departments and sections

. Side-by-side, riding on the same VLASIC technology the communication technology also advanced leading to the worldwide deployment of telephone network, developed primarily for voice communication

. An organization having computers located geographically dispersed locations wanted to have data communications for diverse applications

. Communication was required among the machines of the same kind for collaboration, for the use of common software or data or for sharing of some costly resources

. This led to the development of computer networks by successful integration and cross-fertilization of communications and geographically dispersed computing facilities

. One significant development was the APPARENT (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network)

. Starting with four-node experimental network in 1969, it has subsequently grown into a network several thousand computers spanning half of the globe, from Hawaii to Sweden

. Most of the present-day concepts such as packet switching evolved from the PLANETARY project

. The low bandwidth (kHz on a voice grade line) telephone network was the only generally available communication system available for this type of network.