The Protocol Wars were a long-running debate in
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
that occurred from the 1970s to the 1990s, when engineers, organizations and nations became polarized over the issue of which
communication protocol
A communication protocol is a system of rules that allows two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information via any variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax, semantics (computer science), sem ...
would result in the best and most robust
network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
s. This culminated in the Internet–OSI Standards War in the 1980s and early 1990s, which was ultimately "won" by the
Internet protocol suite
The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suite are ...
(TCP/IP) by the mid-1990s when it became the dominant protocol suite through rapid adoption of the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the pioneers of
packet switching
In telecommunications, packet switching is a method of grouping Data (computing), data into short messages in fixed format, i.e. ''network packet, packets,'' that are transmitted over a digital Telecommunications network, network. Packets consi ...
technology built computer networks providing
data communication
Data communication, including data transmission and data reception, is the transfer of data, transmitted and received over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optic ...
, that is the ability to transfer
data
Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...
between points or
nodes. As more of these networks emerged in the mid to late 1970s, the debate about communication protocols became a "battle for access standards". An international collaboration between several national
postal, telegraph and telephone (PTT) providers and commercial operators led to the
X.25
X.25 is an ITU-T standard protocol suite for Packet switched network, packet-switched data communication in wide area network, wide area networks (WAN). It was originally defined by the CCITT, International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Co ...
standard in 1976, which was adopted on
public data network
A public data network (PDN) is a network established and operated by a telecommunications administration, or a recognized private operating agency, for the specific purpose of providing data transmission services for the public.
The first public ...
s providing global coverage. Separately,