The modem and host interface TX services should both be called from
the RTC device, but when the host interface was implemented the call
was not added.
The 1822 IMP-host interface carefully handshakes every bit
transferred. Thus the DMC facility can read messages piecewise. The
IMP uses this to read a 32-bit leader first, and process the rest or
the message in another round.
The IMP expects the 1822 end of message bit not to be set until after
the entire message has been read.
These changes facilitate more robust parameter type checking and helps
to identify unexpected coding errors.
Most simulators can now also be compiled with a C++ compiler without
warnings.
Additionally, these changes have also been configured to facilitate easier
backporting of simulator and device simulation modules to run under the
simh v3.9+ SCP framework.
This summer a group of us worked together to resurrect the original ARPAnet IMP software, and I’m now happy to say that the IMP lives again in simulation. It’s possible to run the original IMP software on a modified version of the H316 simh and to set up a virtual network of simulated IMPs talking to each other. IMP to IMP connections, which would have originally been carried over leased telephone lines, are tunneled over IP. As far as we can tell, everything works pretty much as it did in the early 1970s. IMPs are able to exchange routing information, console to console communications, network statistics, and they would carry host traffic if there were hosts on the network. The hooks are in there to allow simh to support the IMP side of the 1822 host interface, and the next step would be to recover the OS for an ARPAnet era host and then extend the corresponding simulator to talk to the IMP simulation.
