Automatic Digital Network

The Automatic Digital Network System, known as AUTODIN, is a legacy data communications service in the United States Department of Defense.^[1] AUTODIN originally consisted of numerous AUTODIN Switching Centers (ASCs) located in the United States and in countries such as England and Japan.^[2]

Background

The design of the system, originally named "ComLogNet", began in 1958 by a team of Western Union, RCA and IBM. The customer was the U.S. Air Force and the system's purpose was to improve the speed and reliability of logistics traffic (spare parts for missiles) between five logistics centers and roughly 350 bases and contractor locations. An implementation contract was awarded in the fall of 1959 to Western Union as prime contractor and system integrator, RCA to build the 5 switching center computers and IBM for the compound terminals which provided for both IBM punched card and Teletype data entry. The first site became operational in 1962. During the implementation the government realized the broader value of the system and transferred it to the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) which renamed it "AUTODIN". In 1962 the government solicited competitive bids for a 9 center expansion which was won by Philco-Ford.

Deployment started in 1966. On March 22, 1968, Autodin multimedia terminal in Europe became operational at Ramstein Air base in Germany. This system linked more than 300 Air Forces bases, material areas, depots and other authorized agencies into a single communications network. In the ASCs; operational until the late 1980s the Philco-Ford OL9 computers were still in use with periodic technological updates. In the 1988 to 1990 timeframe an initiative by the Department of Defense for "off the shelf" hardware initiated a replacement of the Philco-Ford processors by DEC VAX 11/780 series systems.

In 1982, a follow-on project, AUTODIN II,^[3] was terminated in favor of using ARPANET technology for the Defense Data Network (including a military subnet known as MILNET).^[4]

AUTODIN Switching Centers have been replaced by various hardware/software combinations. The following are some examples:

A program called NOVA to operate circuits and route messages.^[5] The system is designed to run at 2400 baud, however speeds up to 9600 baud are possible. The system is able to run down to 15 baud if communications systems require it.
A series of hardware/software systems called DABS (DoDIIS Autodin Bypass System) which allows the transmission of messages over Serial connections at up to 9600 Baud as well as TCP/IP connections that allow the transmission of messages across Ethernet connects at speeds limited only by the network bandwidth.

In 1996, DoD decided to phase out AUTODIN by December 31, 1999.^[6] Early in the 21st century, all but one of the AUTODIN Switching Centers had been shut down. The intention is to transition secure messaging traffic to the Defense Message System.

References

^ Office, United States General Accounting (1974). Need to Consolidate Responsibility for Automatic Digital Network (AUTODIN) Terminals, Department of Defense: Report to the Congress. General Accounting Office.
^ Ryals, Phil. "Recalling the AUTODIN". Museum of Computer Culture. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
^ O'ROURKE, DONALD. "Packet switching services for the autodin community" (PDF). www.computer.org. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
^ Fritz E. Froehlich; Allen Kent (1990). "ARPANET, the Defense Data Network, and Internet". The Froehlich/Kent Encyclopedia of Telecommunications. Vol. 1. CRC Press. pp. 341–375. ISBN 978-0-8247-2900-4.
^ "Nova". www.fas.org. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
^ Phaseout of the Automatic Digital Network. Defense Technical Information Center. 1996.

[1] Office, United States General Accounting (1974). Need to Consolidate Responsibility for Automatic Digital Network (AUTODIN) Terminals, Department of Defense: Report to the Congress. General Accounting Office.

[2] Ryals, Phil. "Recalling the AUTODIN". Museum of Computer Culture. Retrieved 27 March 2017.

[3] O'ROURKE, DONALD. "Packet switching services for the autodin community" (PDF). www.computer.org. Retrieved 27 March 2017.

[4] Fritz E. Froehlich; Allen Kent (1990). "ARPANET, the Defense Data Network, and Internet". The Froehlich/Kent Encyclopedia of Telecommunications. Vol. 1. CRC Press. pp. 341–375. ISBN 978-0-8247-2900-4.

[5] "Nova". www.fas.org. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2022.

[6] Phaseout of the Automatic Digital Network. Defense Technical Information Center. 1996.

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v t e United States Air Force system numbers
100–199	100 101 P 102 103 104 105 106¹ 107 A-1 A-2 108¹ 109¹ 110 111¹ 112 113¹ 114¹ 115¹ 116¹ 117 L M 118 A L P 119 C/F E L T Y 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127¹ 128 129 130 131 132 A B 133 134¹ 135 136¹ 137¹ 138 139 140 141¹ 142 143–197¹ 198 199 B C D Y
200–299	200 201 A/L B/W E 202 203¹ 204 205 206 207¹ 208 209¹ 210 211¹ 212 213 214 215¹ 216 217 218 219¹ 220 221 222 A G 223¹ 224 225¹ 226 227–238¹ 239 240–278¹ 279 280–298¹ 299
300–399	300 301¹ 302 303 304¹ 305¹ 306 A/L B 307 308 309 310¹ 311¹ 312¹ 313¹ 314 315 A-1 A-2 316 317 318¹ 319 320¹ 321 322¹ 323 324 L M/N 325 326 327 E 328 E 329 F 330¹ 331¹ 332¹ 333¹ 334¹ 335 336 337 338–379¹ 380 A/B/E/F/N P 381–397¹ 398 399 A B
400–499	400 B/C/N E G/H M 401 402 403¹ 404 405 B C D 406¹ 407 408¹ 409¹ 410 E L 411 E L 412 413 414 L M 415 416 L M (I) M (II) P Q 417 418 L M 419¹ 420 L/W 421¹ 422 423 424 425 426 L M 427 L M 428 A L 429 430 431 G (I) G (II) 432 433 434 435 A L 436 437 438 439 440 441 A D L 442 443 444¹ 445 L M 446 447 448¹ 449¹ 450 451 D L 452 453 454¹ 455 456 457¹ 458 459 460 L 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 L (I) L (II) 472 473 474 L N 475¹ 476 E 477 478 A T 479¹ 480 481 L 482 E L M/Z 483 484 L M N 485 L Z 486 487 488 489 490 L M 491¹ 492 493 494 495 L (I) L (II) 496 497 A L (I) L 498 A C D E L 499 A C D
500–599	500 501–519¹ 520 521–529¹ 530 531–541¹ 542 543–549¹ 550 A E 551–559¹ 560 A F 561–569¹ 570 571–579¹ 580 A E 581–589¹ 590 591 592 593–599¹
600–699	600 601 A L 602 A L 603 A L 604 605 606 607 608¹ 609 610¹ 611¹ 612¹ 613¹ 614 615¹ 616 617¹ 618 619¹ 620 621 A/B (I) B (II) 622 623 624 625 626¹ 627 628¹ 629¹ 630¹ 631¹ 632 633 634 A B 635 636¹ 637¹ 638 639 640 641 642 643 644¹ 645¹ 646¹ 647¹ 648 A D P 649 A B C D E F L P 650 651 652 653¹ 654¹ 655 A (I) A (II) P 656 657¹ 658¹ 659¹ 660 661 662¹ 663¹ 664 665 A (I) A (II) 666 A C/P 667 668 669¹ 670 671¹ 672 A M/P 673¹ 674 675 676¹ 677¹ 678¹ 679 680 681 D E 682¹ 683 A J V 684¹ 685 686 687 J P 688¹ 689¹ 690 691 C X Z 692¹ 693 694¹ 695 A B C L N P Q R S (I) S (II) 696¹ 697¹ 698¹ 699¹
700–799	700–735¹ 736 737¹ 738¹ 739¹ 740¹ 741 742 743 744¹ 745 746–753¹ 754 755–799¹
800–899	800¹ 801¹ 802 L (I) L (II) 803¹ 804¹ 805¹ 806 807 808–816¹ 817 818¹ 819¹ 820¹ 821¹ 822¹ 823 824–831¹ 832 833¹ 834 835–845¹ 846 847–899¹
900–999	900–951¹ 952 853¹ 854¹ 855¹ 956 957–967¹ 968
¹ Unknown or not assigned

Background

See also

References