Spanning Tree Protocol. STP is based on an algorithm that was invented by Radia Perlman while she was working for Digital Equipment Corporation.[1][2] Protocol operation[edit] 1.
An example network. The numbered boxes represent bridges (the number represents the bridge ID). The lettered clouds represent network segments. 2. 3. 4. Radia Perlman: Don't Call Me the Mother of the Internet - Rebecca J. Rosen. The woman who developed the algorithm behind the Spanning Tree Protocol reflects on her illustrious career in math, computer science, and networking.
Perlman as a student, possibly the photo that was used for her MIT student ID (Courtesy of Radia Perlman) When Radia Perlman attended MIT in the late '60s and '70s, she was one of just a few dozen women (about 50) out of a class of 1,000. There were so few other women around, she told me, that she often didn't even notice the gender imbalance—it became normal to her to never see another woman. It wasn't until she had class with another female, "that I’d notice that it kind of looked weird…this other gender person looking curiously out of place in the crowd. I’d have to remind myself that I was also that 'other gender Following her years at MIT, Perlman went on to become a leader in the field of computer science, developing the algorithm behind the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), an innovation that made today's Internet possible.
Algorhyme. Inventor of the Week: Archive. Spanning Tree Algorithm During the 1970s scientists and programmers were working hard on assembling the networks and technology to enable what we now know as the Internet.
Engineer and mathematician Radia Perlman was one of very few women involved in process at that time. Her invention of the algorithm behind the Spanning Tree Protocol solved a challenging information routing problem and earned her the moniker "Mother of the Internet. " Born in 1952 in Portsmouth, Va., Perlman spent much of her childhood in New Jersey. She attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a B.S. degree in 1973 and an M.S. in 1976, both in mathematics. While working for BBN, Perlman made an impression on a manager for Digital Equipment Corp. while making a presentation on network routing. Perlman's work has been described as having put the "basic traffic rules into place" for the Internet.
At Sun, Perlman specializes in network security. [August 2007]