40 Years Later, Internet's Co-Creator Still Pushing - Page 2

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Companies including his own, Anagran, have developed solutions for making Internet bandwidth flow more equally -- avoiding the network hang-ups that occur when, say, a minority of users or certain applications like P2P file-sharing hog a disproportionate amount of bandwidth.

At the IEEE, the new 100 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) standard that is currently being developed is one such effort to increase available bandwidth for all.

But there are other approaches. Roberts said that much of the controversy over Net neutrality, with ISPs banning certain apps or activities, could be blunted if ISPs implemented "fairness" in bandwidth: ensuring that each user receives exactly the same amount of network bandwidth.

While this means "everyone on the network slows down a little," Roberts said, it allows the ISP to better allocate the network and bandwidth distribution more fairly. As a result, use of P2P applications will cease sucking up an unfairly large chunk of everyone's capacity. Instead, their users will be limited to only their share of the network.

"Look at the bandwidth overload companies like Comcast have faced over P2P," he said. "If the ISPs do this, the whole problem of P2P hogging bandwidth goes away."

"It would also help wireless access on devices like the iPhone," he said, a nod to AT&T's recent struggles to cope with booming mobile data activity on its network attributable in large part to the popular Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) smartphone.

The future of the Internet

When Roberts considers what's to come for the Internet in the next five to ten years, he said he hopes the fairness concept on networks will be farther along.

"I really believe we have to have much better quality of service and fairness," he said.

In addition to concerns about how to fairly manage network bandwidth -- and whether ISPs should be allowed to do so at all -- recent years have also seen an upswing in dire predictions of full-on Internet disruptions or outages due to data overload.

But Roberts thinks the distributed nature of the Internet makes those concerns overblown.

"The network doesn't break -- it slows down. For some people, that may mean they can't do the job they'd like to, like telemedicine. You can't be waiting for the Internet when you're trying to figure out where to move the scalpel or make a cut during an operation."

Granted, the Internet is going to continue seeing more and more traffic. But its underlying technology will also be improving.

"You're going to see faster performance every year, that's just part of Moore's Law," he said, noting advances in chip technology means faster network equipment.

Likewise, he expects big strides in reliability in services like VoIP and video without serious deviations from the Internet's reliance on TCP/IP .

"We've proven we can fix these latency issues," he said. "We won't require changes in the protocol -- TCP will stay indefinitely."

UCLA's 40th anniversary event will be Web cast later today.