Question

Which of the following statements is false? The ARPANET is the precursor to today’s Internet. Today’s fastest Internet speeds are on the order of trillionsof bits per second with quadrillion-bit-per-second speeds on the horizon. Although the ARPANET enabled researchers to network their computers, its main benefit proved to be the capability for quick and easy communication via what came to be known as electronic mail (e-mail). The protocol (set of rules) for communicating over the ARPANET became known as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). TCP ensured that messages, consisting of sequentially numbered pieces called packets, were properly routed from sender to receiver, arrived intact and were assembled in the correct order.

Answer 1

Answer:

False: Today’s fastest Internet speeds are on the order of trillions of bits per second with quadrillion-bit-per-second speeds on the horizon.

Explanation:

One trillion (in short scale, used in the United States):

$\\ one\;trillion\; = 10^{12}$

The prefix used in the metric system for this is Tera.

One quadrillion (in short scale):

$\\ one\;quadrillion\; = 10^{15}$

The prefix used in the metric system for this is Peta.

Maximum internet speeds for downloading varies roughly between 200 Mbps and 2 Mbps (Internet Speeds By Country by Population 2020 (2020), in World Population Review).

The maximum speed rate on Internet is about:

$\\ v_{1} = 200Mbps = 200*10^{6}\frac{bits}{sec}$

Considering the maximum speed were one trillion of bits per second:

$\\ v_{2} = 1\;trillion\;bits\;per\;sec = 1*10^{12}\frac{bits}{sec}$

Then,

$\\ \frac{v_{2}}{v_{1}} = \frac{1*10^{12}\frac{bits}{sec}}{200*10^{6}\frac{bits}{sec}} = 5000$

Thus, the Internet speed of order of trillions is about 5000 times greater than the present internet speed in the country with the fastest internet speed on Earth, so the claim proposed is false (at least for main users of Internet).

Likewise, according to Kahn and Dennis (2019), Internet, in Encyclopaedia Britannica, current data rates are of 10 billion of bits per second, and estimates rates of one trillion of bits per second in future, and common users will be able to connect to networks at speeds of 100 gigabits per second if development of hardware and software continue at current pace.

Considering the former, 10 billions is equivalent to 10 gigabits per second or:

$\\ 10\;billions\;bits\;per\;second = 10*10^{9}\frac{bits}{sec}$

And 100 billions bits per second:

$\\ 100\;gigabits\;per\;second\;= 100*10^{9}\frac{bits}{sec}$

These numbers are also lower than the proposed in the question, and the order of trillion of bits per second mentioned is estimated for the future.

By the way, Robert Kahn, one of the authors cited above, collaborated on a paper in 1974 that first described the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) "which originally included the Internet protocol (IP)" (op.cit.)