The Stanford Research Institute's Artificial Intelligence Group (SRAI
- in the four-letter abbreviations) expects connection to the ARPA net as a
-
- research center after conversion this summer to a TENEX from our current
-
- PDP-10. Our connection will be through the IMP already at SRI for the
-
- Network Information Center and through a PDP-15 serving our PDP-10 as a
-
- controller of peripherals. Our hardware interface to the IMP is currently
-
- in the bidding process, and we intend to use as much as possible of the
-
- TENEX network software. (Probably all we will need to change is the lowest
-
- level, most strongly hardware-oriented part of the NCP.)
-
The most optimistic estimate we can give for functional connection to
- the network is mid-July 1971. We are currently devoting the energies of
-
- our system support group to the accomodation of various hardware and design
-
- changes, and so our contact with the Network Working Group has been only
-
- minimal and passive. It is entirely conceivable that we may find our par-
-
- ticipation tending to strength and activeness as we cross our other bridges.
-
We can project our participation in the network into the first few
- months of our connection. We can support several simultaneous outside
-
- users on a system nominally up during the business day and often up at
-
- other times. Lapses in continuity of system operation are usually due to
-
- scheduled maintenance or hardware failures and tend to occur at intervals
-
- of either an hour or several days with remarkable consistency. The prin-
-
- cipal service we offer to other network participants is the availability
-
- of various parts of our own research software. The most notable examples
-
- are QA3.6, a first-order resolution theorem prover; STRIPS, an extra-
-
- logical problem solver; and possibly QA4, a language oriented toward
-
- problem-solving strategies. The services we can anticipate requesting
-
- of the network are of two kinds: We could conceivably use other people's
-
- artificial intelligence programs on a trial basis; and we might use the
-
- network to make occasional contact with other people in the network.
-
[ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]
[ into the online RFC archives by BBN Corp. under the ]
[ direction of Alex McKenzie. 12/96 ]
-