COINS ANNUAL STATISTICAL REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83T00573R000100140005-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 26
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 16, 2003
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: August 6, 1980
• Content Type: MF

ILLEGIB
Approved F N`'TIC$?XL20RECl7RtTY-AGENCYT0d5'T3R, 000100140005
CENTRAL SECURITY SERVICE
FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND 20755
6 August 1980
COINS/110-80
SUBJECT: COINS Annual Statistical Report
1. Attached is a copy of the COINS Annual Statistical Report for
FY-1979. This report documents the growth of the network during the
period from 1 October 1975 through 30 September 1979, and also contains
detailed statistics on the usage of the COINS data bases during FY-79.
2. The report will be issued annually. Any recommendations
for improvements will be welcomed and if received by 1 November 1980,
we will try to incorporate them into the next report.
COIN Project Manager
Attachment
a/s
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SECRET
Community On-Line Intelligence System
wii 331E-5.2.513
COINS ANNUAL STATISTICAL REPORT (U)
Project Management Office
National Security Agency
Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, 20755
NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized disclosure subject
to criminal sanctions
CLASSIFIED BY NSAICSSM 123--
REVIEW ON 31 .7,4c Zo o
e 6011 Executive Boulevard
informatics inc Rockville
Maryland 20852
[phone]
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UNCLASSIFIED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PURPOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 1
WHAT IS COINS ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2
BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . Page 2
COINS "EXPERIMENT" TO COINS I . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3
COINS II . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 5
COINS II TODAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7
IMPACT OF AIRES ON COINS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 13
FUTURE EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 15
THE COINS NETWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 17
COINS SUBSCRIBERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22
THE SUPPLIERS OF COINS FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22
CHANGES IN COINS FILES -.FY 179 . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 23
BATCH MODE USAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 24
BATCH REPLY ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 26
BATCH TURN-AROUND TIME ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . Page 27
INTERACTIVE USAGE . . . . . Page 29
SOLIS USAGE . . . . . . . . , . Page 31
NETWORK USAGE ... . . . . . . , . . , . , . . . . . Page 32
ABORT ANALYSIS . . . . . , . . , . . . . . . . Page 33
LOST ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 35
APPENDIX A - COINS FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 37
APPENDIX B - FILE INTERROGATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . Page 40
APPENDIX C - FILE USAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 45
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LIST OF DIAGRAMS
Page ii
DIAGRAM NO. 1: COINS I AND IDHSC I . . . . . . . . . . .
DIAGRAM NO. 2A: COINS II AND IDHSC - DECEMBER 1979 . . . .
DIAGRAM NO. 2B: COINS II AND IDHSC 1980 PROJECTION . . . .
DIAGRAM NO. 3: COINS I/COINS II NETWORKS - DECEMBER 1, 1979
. Page 4
. Page 6
. Page 6
Page 8
DIAGRAM NO. 4A: COINS II/ARPANET TEST . . . . . . . . . .
. Page 12
DIAGRAM NO. 4B: PACOM ENVIRONMENT - COINS II/ARPANET TEST
. Page 12
DIAGRAM NO. 5: DISTRIBUTION OF USAGE OF BATCH FILES BY
SPONSORING AGENCY . . . . . . . . . . . .
. Page 24
DIAGRAM NO. 6: BATCH MODE USAGE .. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pgae 25
DIAGRAM NO. 7: TYPE OF REPLIES RECEIVED FOR BATCH QUERIES
. Page 26
DIAGRAM NO. 8: COINS NETWORK TURN-AROUND TIME FOR ALL
BATCH QUERIES . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
. Page 27
DIAGRAM NO. 9: TURN-AROUND TIME ANALYSIS FOR VARIOUS
AGENCIES . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .
. .
. Page 28
DIAGRAM NO. 10: NUMBER OF INTERACTIVE SESSIONS . . . .
. .
. Page 29
DIAGRAM NO. 11: SOLIS USAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
. Page 29
DIAGRAM NO. 12: NUMBER OF SOLIS QUERIES BY COINS USERS . .
. Page 31
DIAGRAM NO. 13; SOLIS CONNECTIONS VS. MINUTES CONNECTED .
. Page 31
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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE NO. 1: HOST PROCESSORS IN THE COINS NETWORK AND HOST
PROCESSORS IN IDHSC WORKING WITH COINS . . . . . Page 10
TABLE NO. 2: COINS I - COINS II COMPARISONS . . . . . . . . . Page 14
TABLE NO. 3: GROWTH OF COINS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 18
TABLE NO. 4: REAL ANNUAL GROWTH OF COINS SINCE 1972 . . . . . Page 18
TABLE NO. 5: NUMBER OF INTER-AGENCY INTERROGATIONS IN 1978
FOR TOP 10 USING ORGANIZATIONS . . . . . . . . . Page 20
TABLE NO. 6: TEN MOST FREQUENTLY QUERIED FILES - FY '79 . . . Page 20
TABLE NO. 7: COINS SUBSCRIBERS - OCTOBER 1979 . . . . . . . . Page 21
TABLE NO. 8: ANNUAL INVENTORY OF THE NUMBER OF COINS FILES
BY SPONSORING AGENCY . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 23
TABLE NO. 9: COINS TERMINAL ACCESS SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . Page 30
TABLE NO. 10: NETWORK USAGE: USERS VS. FILE SPONSORS . . . . Page 32
TABLE NO. 11: ABORTS BY FILE SPONSOR - FY 1979. . . . . . . . Page 34
TABLE NO. 12: THE TEN(10) USING ORGANIZATIONS WHOSE
INTERROGATIONS ARE MOST FREQUENTLY ABORTED. . . Page 34
TABLE NO. 13: LOST DISPOSITION STATISTICS BY DISPOSITION
FOR HOST/ADDRESSEE COMBINATION FROM 7810 - 7909 Page 35
TABLE NO. 14: LOST QUERY SUMMARY BY HOST PROCESSING
INTERROGATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 36
TABLE NO. 15: LOST QUERY SUMMARY BY HOST ORIGINATING
INTERROGATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 36
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CiASSIF1EO
(U) This report documents the growth of the Community On-Line Intelligence
System (COINS) during the period of 1 October 1975 through 30 September 1979.
This period, which has witnessed substantial changes in the physical makeup
of the COINS network and its community, covers four fiscal years of operations.
(U) The objectives of this report are:
(U) 1. To provide summaries of usage and performance of the COINS network
for all levels of COINS management. The summaries include:
o Usage of the Network
o Usage of each host system
o Usage of each COINS file
o Usage by each using organization.
(U) 2. To highlight significant events or situations which either have
had an impact upon the usage and performance of the COINS network or will have
in the future.
(U) 3. To establish a benchmark against which future network growth, usage
and performance can be compared.
(U) 4. To identify problem areas and steps being taken to minimize their
impact and performance. Examples are:
o Turnaround Time
o Number of aborted interrogations
-o Number of unanswered interrogations.
(U) More detailed information can be obtained by contacting the COINS PMO
or by interrogating the COINS Usage and Performance Analysis (CUPA) File.
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ICE ASSIFE0
(U) The Community On-Line Intelligence System is a secure network inter-
connecting several data processing centers and associated intelligence data
banks of the U.S. intelligence community. The COINS network is connected
to the DIA managed IDHSC network and through this connection it provides
services to DIA, as well as the intelligence components of the military
services and the U&S Commands. The purpose of COINS is to permit the inter-
agency sharing of data bases and other computer services by, authorized users
in an on-line fashion.
(U) Also, the COINS network is being used as a means of disseminating class-
ified, highly-sensitive compartmented foreign intelligence information to
the TOP SECRET SI/TK level. For some users, it has become the only available
source for some routine end products. The COINS and IDHSC networks are avail-
able for operational use twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. However,
the COINS Network Control Center (CNCC) in the COINS PMO at NSA is only manned
from 0600 to 2300 hours five days Monday through Friday, less holidays. Therefore,
because the TAS and the COINS ARPANET Gateway are located in the CNCC, organi-
zations which use the TAS in the COINS PMO or the one in PACOM are restricted
to being able to access during these hours. Sufficient additional personnel
should be available this summer so that around the clock services can be
extended to these organizations. Some using agencies have elected to provide
access for shorter time periods.
(U) The Community On-Line Intelligence System (COINS) was begun in 1965,
following the President's approval of a recommendation by the President's
Foreign. Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) to improve the exchange of
intelligence information among Washington-area intelligence community
members by internetting existing computer-based information storage and
retrieval systems. The initial inter-agency network established was known
as the COINS "Experiment".
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.lHC!4SSJFJED
COINS "EXPERIMENT" TO COINS I
(U) For the first seven years of the COINS Network's existence, it was
known as the COINS "Experiment" and connected with the DIA managed IDHSC
network via a Switch at DIA so that operational support could be provided
to a number of Defense intelligence agencies throughout the world. As a
result of these two interconnected networks, any authorized user in either
network could interrogate any one of a number of selected formatted foreign
intelligence files stored in one of several file processors in either network.
The COINS "Experiment" was relabled COINS I in May 1973, after the DCI accepted
the ASD(I) evaluation which included its conclusions and recommendations.
Based on the preceding, efforts were initiated to develop a new communications
network known as COINS II. COINS II is based on ARPA developed technology
which uses wide band digital communications and provides alternate routing for
traffic flow.
(U) The COINS I network, coupled with the IDHSC network, had to continue
to operate while COINS II was being implemented as a number of intelligence
agencies were relying upon it for operational support. Diagram No. 1 of the
COINS/IDHSC network illustrates the geographic area covered by these two inter-
connected networks. An analyst sitting at a remote terminal in Korea or in
Germany can submit batch interrogations to files In the IDHSC network and the
COINS network.
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(U) By the end of 1976, the COINS II network was ready to begin testing.
However, in November 1976, DIA advised the COINS PMO that because of a core
limitation problem in its PDP 11/45 switch, it would not be able to com-
plete the connection of the IDHSC network, including DIAOLS, to the COINS II
network until after the PDP 11/45 switch was replaced with a PDP 11/70 in
1977.
(U) As a contingency measure, the COINS PMO requested both NPIC and NSA
to dual connect their host processors so that they could operate in both
the COINS I and COINS II networks simultaneously. When this action was
completed it permitted the COINS II network to become operational in October
1977, less DIA. As indicated in Diagrams 2A and 28, the COINS I and COINS II
networks operated concurrently until January 30, 1980 when the connection
between the COINS II network and the IDUSC network, (see Diagram 2A) includ-
ing DIAOLS, was completed after which the old COINS I communications circuits
were disestablished. This connection permits "batch" interrogations to
continue to flowrbetween COINS II and the IDHSC network but it does not permit
the IDHSC community to access interactive systems in COINS II (e.g., NSA/SOLIS)
or vice versa. It is important to note that as a result of this connection,
the DIA/DIAOLS system is a HOST in the IDHSC network and not in the COINS II
network. However, a joint DIA/COINS PMO team has been established to develop
the specifications for a gateway between IDHSC and COINS which could handle
both batch transactions and interactive connections in either direction.
Severe budget constraints in FY80 and FY81 prevent both DIA and the COINS
PMO from beginning construction of this gateway until FY82, with it becoming
operational in FY83.
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(U) The COINS II network today is a distributed network based on the
transfer of the packet switching network (PSN) technology developed by
the ARPANET, including the IMP's. In addition, the existing NSA Ti digital
communications network (TETRAHEDRON) available in the Washington intelligence
community was expanded and used for inter-nodal communications in COINS II
instead of traditional voice grade circuits.
(U) As indicated in Diagram No. 3, the COINS II network consists of five
IMP'S (HIS316) inter-connected by 64KB channels within the T1 network includ-
ing sufficient alternate routine to provide reasonable assurance of circuit
availability. The hardware and software used for the IMP's are the same
as those used in ARPANET. In general, the software for the 1N,_-'s in the.
COINS network is one software release behind that of the ARPANET.
(U) Initially, the COINS II network was composed of the two batch host
file processors, at NSA and NPIC, which were dual connected to both the
COINS I and the COINS II network. These systems were only capable of hand-
ling batch interrogations. In addition, a new host file processor, the NSA/
SOLIS system was added to the COINS II network. This was the first inter-
active processor in the network and it is available only in an interactive
mode. To minimize the impact on interactive connections, a file processor
to the COINS II network Front End Processor (FEP) is used. Further more,
two Terminal Access Systems were added to the COINS II network; one was for
operational use, and the other known as the Network Service Host (NRI) is
used to support a wide range of activities in the COINS PMO.
User Support Information Subsystem (USISS);
Network Usage Information Subsystem (NUISS)
Terminal Transfer Research Facility (TTRF)
(U) In the event of a hardware failure in the TAS, the NSH is used as a backup.
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However, the Terminal Access System (TAS) and Network Service Host (NSH) which
is also a TAS in its own right, are directly connected to an IMP. Table 1 is
a list of the hosts available in COINS II including TAS's and those available
in the IDHSC network which operate with the COINS network. The following
information is also indicated in the table.
o Number of files availabl.: for access
o Number of remote terminals available for users
o Operating mode of each host in the COINS network (i.e., batch
only, interactive only or both)
SERVER host is one which makes files and services available
to the network (e.g., NSA/SOLIS)
- USER host is one which permits users to operate with server
hosts in the network (e.g., TAS)
(U) The Terminal Access System (TAS) in the COINS PMO was installed initially
to provide intelligence organizations in the Washington, DC area, which did not
have a host processor, with remote terminals. Using these terminals they could
access COINS II iii either a "batch" or "interactive" mode depending upon the
capability of the host being accessed. It should be stressed that only remote
terminals on the TAS are able to operate with the NSA/SOLIS system in an interactive
fashion. However, remote terminals on a TAS can operate with any host in the
network regardless of whether it is batch or interactive. The demand for more
remote terminals on the TAS became evident:
(1) after NSA adopted the policy that all access to NSA/SOLIS would be
via COINS II vice remote terminals directly connected to SOLIS. As a result,
remote terminals directly connected to SOLIS at Treasury, State, DIA/NMIC,
were gradually transferred to the TAS.
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(11) (2) after it became apparent that there would be a significant delay
in making the connection between COINS II and the IDHSC network, the COINS
PMO offered DIA a contingency plan to provide DIA, the military services, and
U&S Command with direct access to COINS II via a remote terminal off the TAS.
The arrangement offered was that each organization requesting access to COINS II
via a direct terminal F'-3 to be approved by DIA and be willing to pay for the
9600 BPS circuit required including MODEM'S and KG's for both ends of the
circuit. If necessary, the COINS PM0 would loan each organization approved
by DIA a TEMPESTED TTY Model 40 and also provide the necessary users training
after terminals are installed. The main interest of the organizations was access
to the NSA/SOLIS system but they have the flexibility of using any host in
COINS or IDHSC to which they are authorized access.
(U) A third COINS TAS has been installed in PACOM in 1979 as part of the
COINS ARPANET Test Facility.
(U)
In 1977, at the request of ASD(C3I) and in cooperation with DIA and PACOM,
the COINS PMO initiated an effort to determine the extent to which the ARPANET
could be used to handle COINS traffic. This effort involved the installation
of a COINS TAS in Honolulu, Hawaii on a PDP 11/45 provided by PACOM, and it is
connected to the COINS II Network via the ARPANET using PLI/KG-34's. (See Diagram
Nos. 4A and 4B). The PACOM TAS called AKU has seven TEMPEST approved TTY Model 40's
connected to it, five of which are on loan from the COINS PMO. This facility
is still in a test mode but it should be declared operational by June 1980
after some new software modules are installed in the Gateway and in the TAS
in Honolulu. However, users operating from terminals on the AKU TAS can access
either batch or interactive systems in COINS II.
(U) The TAS in the COINS PMO, and the COINS/ARPANET Gateway which permits
the AKU TAS in Honolulu to have access to COINS II are located in the COINS
Network Control Center (CNCC) in the COINS PMO at NSA. Because of personnel
constraints, the CNCC i4 only manned from 0600 to 2300 five days a week less
weekends and holidays. Organizations using these systems to access COINS
are restricted accordingly.
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(U) Within the COINS network the term "ABORT" refers to a message type
generated by the interrogated host which signals the abandonment of processing
of an interrogation. There are currently four types of aborts for batch
processing and five for interactive.
Batch
a. Abort Fault - error due to user's mistake in the format
or text of an interrogation.
b. Abort Cause - error due to interrogated host's hardware
or software.
c. Abort Error - error in transmission.
d. Abort TMA #3.- file to be interrogated does not exist on
host processor (caused by a user trying to interrogate a
file which does not exist on the host processor addressed).
Interactive
a. Abort 0 - No terminal activity for n seconds.
b. Abort 1 - Number of retransmissions to Host/terminal
exceeds n.
c. Abort 2 - Unable to receive/enter data from/to network.
d. Abort 3 - Addressed host down.
e. Abort 4 - Invalid network log--on attempt.
(U)Currently, all interactive aborts are tabulated as abort 0.
(U) The following tables (numbers 11 and 1.2) present abort statistics
for hosts sponsoring files, and for hosts originating interrogations.
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(U)This appendix contains the list of all COINS files that are
presently active. It includes their abbreviated and expanded names
and is listed by file sponsoring agency.
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(U) This appendix contains tables which list the COINS file
sponsors, the files they control, and the number of interrogations
to each file for fiscal years 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979.
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(U) This appendix contains a breakdown of file usage for
each file sponsor. The usage for each file by user agency
is presented.
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