This is a proposal to connect NSFNET to JANET, its closest equivalent in the U.K., via 56,000 bit per second AT&T satellite service. The proposed link is not in any sense experimental; it is intended to operate in full production mode for the exchange of routine scholarly traffic between the academic computer networks of the U.S. and the U.K. The only existing link supporting the Internet standard TCP/IP protocols is DARPA-MOD SATNET which places stringent restrictions on non-defense related traffic. The proposal provides for the U.S. share of the satellite link itself and an IP router/gateway to be installed at the John von Neumann National Supercomputer Center, the U.S. terminus. Funds are also included to operate and maintain the gateway and associated services such as routing tables and a secondary domain nameserver.
