Paul Baran facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Paul Baran
Born	(1926-04-29)April 29, 1926 Grodno, Poland (now Belarus)
Died	March 26, 2011(2011-03-26) (aged 84) Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Citizenship	Poland, United States
Alma mater	UCLA (M.S., 1959) Drexel University (B.S., 1949)
Known for	Packet switching
Spouse(s)	Evelyn Murphy Baran, PhD
Awards	IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1990) Computer History Museum Fellow (2005) Marconi Prize (1991) NMTI (2007) National Inventors Hall of Fame
Scientific career
Institutions	RAND Corporation

Paul Baran (born Pesach Baran; April 29, 1926 – March 26, 2011) was a Polish-American engineer. He was a key person in creating computer networks. He helped invent packet switching, which is how data travels on the internet today. Paul Baran also started many companies and developed other important technologies. These technologies are now a big part of how we communicate digitally.

Early Life and Education

Paul Baran was born on April 29, 1926, in Grodno, which was then part of Poland. His family moved to the United States in 1928. They first lived in Boston and then in Philadelphia.

He earned a degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University in 1949. After college, he worked on early commercial computers called UNIVAC models. He later moved to Los Angeles and worked on radar systems. In 1959, he earned his master's degree in engineering from UCLA.

Designing a Network for Survival

After joining the RAND Corporation in 1959, Baran worked on a big challenge. He needed to design a communication system that could keep working even if parts of it were damaged. This was important during the Cold War, when there was a fear of nuclear attacks. Old communication systems could easily be shut down.

Baran wanted to create a "survivable" network. He imagined a system where information could still get through, even if some parts of the network were destroyed. He found that if a network had many connections between its parts, it would be much stronger.

How Packet Switching Works

This image from 1964 shows Paul Baran's idea for a "block message," which was the very first data packet ever proposed.

Baran's main idea was to break down information into small "blocks." Think of these blocks like small letters or postcards. Instead of sending one long message, the message was split into many small pieces. Each block could then travel separately across the network.

These blocks would find different paths to their destination. If one path was broken, the blocks could simply go another way. Once all the blocks arrived, they would be put back together to form the original message. This method made communication faster and more reliable. It also used the communication lines more efficiently.

Sharing the Idea of Packet Switching

Paul Baran shared his ideas with many people, including engineers from AT&T. At first, some engineers did not think his idea of non-dedicated circuits (meaning not having a single, continuous connection) would work for voice calls.

Around the same time, Donald Davies in the United Kingdom also had a similar idea. He used the term "packets" for these small units of information. Davies realized that computer traffic often came in bursts, unlike steady phone calls. His work on packet switching helped get the attention of the developers of ARPANET, an early computer network. Baran was happy that Davies had come up with the same idea on his own.

Another important person was Leonard Kleinrock. He developed theories about how messages flow in networks. His work helped understand how packet switching networks would perform. Paul Baran and Donald Davies are recognized for independently inventing the concept of digital packet switching. This concept is used in modern computer networking, including the internet.

In 1969, when the US Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) started building ARPANET, they looked at Baran's research. The ability of the internet to keep working, even if parts of it fail, comes partly from Baran's research. He wanted to create a network that could survive a nuclear attack.

Later Inventions and Companies

In 1968, Paul Baran helped start the Institute for the Future. He then became involved in many other networking technologies in Silicon Valley. He also wrote about computer systems and privacy.

Baran founded several companies:

• PacketCable, Inc.: This company worked on sending voice and video over packet networks.
• StrataCom: This company came from PacketCable and developed technology for phone networks.
• Telebit: Baran started Telebit, which created early modems. These modems used a special technology that is now common in DSL modems and Wi-Fi devices.
• Metricom: This was the first wireless internet company. It launched Ricochet, an early public wireless mesh network.
• Com21: An early company focused on cable modems.
• GoBackTV: This company worked on personal TV and internet TV systems.
• Plaster Networks: This company created ways to connect devices in homes using existing wiring.

Paul Baran also worked on ideas for how wireless signals should be used. He is also credited with inventing the first doorway gun detector.

Death and Legacy

Paul Baran passed away on March 26, 2011, in Palo Alto, California. He was 84 years old. He died from complications related to lung cancer.

Many people recognized his important contributions. Vint Cerf, one of the "fathers of the Internet," said that Paul Baran was not afraid to try new ideas. Bob Kahn, another co-inventor of the Internet, called Paul Baran "one of the finest gentlemen." Paul Baran believed that new inventions were a "team process" and did not seek all the credit for himself. His work made our world a better place by creating technologies that are now essential for communication.

Awards and Honors

Paul Baran received many awards for his important work:

• IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1990)
• Marconi Prize (1991)
• Nippon Electronics Corporation C&C Prize (1996)
• Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science (2001)
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2003)
• Fellow of the Computer History Museum (2005)
• National Inventors Hall of Fame (2007)
• National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2007)
• Internet Hall of Fame (2012)

See also

• Internet pioneers