Tuesday March 16, 2010 5:09 AM AEST

Internet breaches the final frontier

  • Email a Friend
  • Print Page
Internet breaches the final frontier
By Sylvie Barak
Oct 28, 2008 | 2 Comments
Tags: internet | science | space | travel | nasa

Internet creator looks to the stars for his next project.

Vint Cerf, co-creator of the Internet and a Google vice president, says he’s designing new protocols for a strong space-communication network, modeled on the internet here on Earth.

Years ago, Cerf was the man who designed the networking protocols which launched the whole net phenomenom. But now the internet guru is reaching for the moon, positing it’s about time a proper working communication system was launched into space, ridding the space exploration industry of costly, non reusable point-to-point radio links, which inhibit interoperability and that have to be made specifically for every mission.

To this aim, Cerf has teamed up with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Washington DC based MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit national technology resource on a project dubbed the Interplanetary Internet.

The project, to develop communication standards and technical specs which can support rich networking in space, will be tested on the International Space Station (ISS) next year. If that goes well, Cerf hopes space missions will be designed to use the protocols as early as 2010.

In an interview with MIT’s Technology Review, Cerf notes the primary difficulties in building such a network include distance-induced delays and the rotation of the planets, causing disruption in communication lines.

To deal with these issues, Cerf says the project is developing a delay- and disruption-tolerant networking system [DTN] which uses store-and-forward methods - routing data through hosts which store it until communications can be established - similar to TCP/IP in design.

"Using the DTN bundle protocol allows us to design more-complex mission configurations involving many devices on the surface of planets and in orbit around them," says Cerf, who adds he expects standard TCP/IP protocols would be used on the surface of planets and in spacecraft, while DTN protocols would be reserved for interplanetary distance communications.

The project is not without security concerns, however, and Cerf notes great pains were taken to build defenses into the basic design so that each bundle-aware node would be able to identify any other nodes it's communicating with.

"We will be using strong authentication methods, cryptographic communication methods, to ensure that the parties that are using the resources are authorised to do so," says Cerf, explaining how nodes could refuse to forward data from any nodes that it doesn’t recognise.

Cerf reckons that someday soon, the network could even link manned and robotic spacecraft becoming the basis for a galaxy-wide communications system.

 

theinquirer.net (c) 2009 Incisive Media

 
Want to check out the first Australian review of Final Fantasy XIII? We got in this month's Atomic!

Plus HD projectors, Napoleon: Total War, Intel's new six-core processor, PC upgrading guide, and a whole lot more.

ON SALE NOW!
2 Comments
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
ArcaneMagik
Oct 28, 2008 10:55 AM
I thought Al Gore did it all by himself. The things you learn...
SceptreCore
Oct 30, 2008 2:01 PM
Sounds fascinating.

Finally something that has the longevity to make a better worldwide communications system.
Login or register to submit a comment.
 
 
Atomic Magazine

Issue: 111 | April, 2010

Atomic is a magazine aimed squarely at computer enthusiasts, gamers, and serious PC upgraders.

Every month we bring you the latest reviews of new technology and PC components, in depth features on everything from overclocking to console hacking, and gaming previews and interviews.
 
Latest Comments
"i'll put money on it someone tried to fix that cooler to their pc..."
by sladeXS | Mar 16, 2010 2:46 AM
 
"ps. its about 400, not 599
"
by sladeXS | Mar 16, 2010 2:36 AM
 
"I can see it now. An option screen that says "would you like to play the next level? then please ..."
by brumby92 | Mar 15, 2010 11:28 PM
 
"Well here's a rather disturbing thought. If theses individuals get off on watching kiddy porn ..."
by Sparky | Mar 15, 2010 10:39 PM
 
"how is it that the second last post is from August 31 2009?"
by Guy Smiley | Mar 15, 2010 10:27 PM
 
1) Nokia N9739 plans 23%
2) Apple iPhone 8GB40 plans 32%
3) HTC Magic3 plans 16%
4) HTC Touch HD28 plans 12%
5) Sony Ericsson Aino6 plans 12%
1) Netspace36 plans 100%
2) Optus41 plans 11%
3) iiNet32 plans 6%
4) Dodo34 plans 5%
5) Telstra BigPond30 plans 3%

Mobiles | Broadband | Credit Cards

Haymarket - Atomic MPC
Latest User Reviews
Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse
90%
Good shape, design and Ergonomics
 
Coolermaster HAF 922
100%
A case to make a statment and give your pc the Heavy Hardcore Grunt it needs.
 
Coolermaster Excalibur
50%
Atomic is under attack
 
XFX 9300 Motherboard
40%
HUGE letdown
 
CM Storm Sentinel gaming mouse
90%
Sexy and instant geek respect.