Dr Larry Roberts, internet co-designer and tech pioneer has died, aged 81.
Dr Roberts was one of the major innovators of what would later become the Internet, designing computer network Arpanet for the US Advanced Research Projects Agency in the 1960s. It led the way for the internet as we know it to be created just a few decades later.
His work paved the way for many of the groundbreaking technologies used for data transmission, such as packet-switching, to be developed now a cornerstone of the Internet.
His creation stated that the internet should work by sending small packets of data across a network, using a distributed layout rather than a centralised system as other networks operated.
Although completely unique at the time, it's evolved into the most common method of moving data in modern computing environments.
Arpanet was later merged with the Internet network as we now know it in the 1980s, but in the meantime, Dr Roberts introduced the technology to other businesses, such as networking business Telenet, where he served as chief executive.
That company was sold to GTE in the 1990s for a cool $60 million, although his legacy lived on and he's still recognised as one of the chief innovators of the internet alongside other pioneers such as Bob Kahn, Vint Cerf and Len Kleinrock.
Dr Roberts explained that his passion for technology came from his chemist parents, but he said he wanted a career in something a little more modern.
He passed away on Boxing Day following a heart attack, his family announced in a statement.
