This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (April 2007)

The speed of light, seen here travelling from the Earth to the Moon, would be how fast Interplanetary Internet would be able to travel, and due to vast distances, be delayed

The Interplanetary Internet, as presently conceived, is a set of floating nodes in space which can communicate with each other^[1][2]. Because of the large speed of light delays involved with interplanetary distances, the IPN needs a new set of protocols and technology that are tolerant to large delays^[3]. While the Internet as we know it tends to be a busy "network of networks" with high traffic, negligible delay and errors, and a wired backbone, the InterPlanetary Internet is a store-and-forward "network of Internets" that is often disconnected, with a wireless backbone fraught with error-prone links and delays ranging to tens of minutes, even hours, even when there is a connection. Image File history File links Wikitext. ... Download high resolution version (1024x92, 4 KB)Self-made File links There are no pages that link to this file. ... Download high resolution version (1024x92, 4 KB)Self-made File links There are no pages that link to this file. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ... This article is about Earths moon. ... Network node (NN): A grouping of one or more network elements (at one or more sites) which provides network related functions, and is administered as a single entity. ... The speed of light in vacuum is an important physical constant denoted by the letter c for constant or the Latin word celeritas meaning swiftness.[1] It is the speed of all electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, in a vacuum. ... Existing or occurring between planets. ... This article concerns communication between pairs of electronic devices. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ...

Looking at space communications from the historical perspective, there has been a steady evolution from expensive one-of-a-kind point-to-point architectures, to the re-use of technology on successive missions, to the development of standard protocols agreed upon by space agencies of many countries. This last phase has gone on since 1982 through the efforts of The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS),^[4] a body composed of the major space agencies of the world. It has ten member agencies, twenty-two observer agencies, and over 100 industrial associates. CCSDS Logo (NASA) The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) is an international organization of major national space agencies and industry partners formed in 1982 that peacefully cooperate in the development of standards to promote interchange of space-related information. ...

The evolution of space data system standards has gone on in parallel with the evolution of the Internet, with conceptual cross-pollination where fruitful, but to a large degree, as a separate evolution. Since the late 1990s, familiar Internet protocols and CCSDS space link protocols have integrated and converged in several ways, for example, the successful FTP file transfer to Earth-orbiting STRV-1b on January 2 1996.^[5] Internet Protocol use without CCSDS has also been demonstrated on spacecraft, e.g. the UoSAT-12 satellite and the Disaster Monitoring Constellation. Having reached the era where IP on-board spacecraft, and IP or IP-like Space Communications Protocol Specifications (SCPS) for short hops have been shown to be feasible, a forward-looking study of the bigger picture was the next phase. UoSAT-12, the twelfth satellite in the University of Surrey series, was designed and built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). ... The Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) consists of five remote-sensing satellites constructed by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and operated for the Algerian, Nigerian, Turkish, British and Chinese governments by DMC International Imaging. ... The Space Communications Protocol Specifications (SCPS) are a set of extensions to existing protocols and new protocols developed by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) to improve performance of Internet protocols in space environments. ...

The InterPlanetary Internet study at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was started by a team of scientists at JPL led by Vinton Cerf and Adrian Hooke.^[6] Dr. Cerf is one of the pioneers of the Internet on Earth, and currently holds the position of distinguished visiting scientist at JPL. Mr. Hooke is one of the directors of the CCSDS. For the singer/songwriter, see Jon Peter Lewis. ... Vinton G. Cerf (born June 23, 1943) is commonly referred to as the father of the Internet. During his tenure from 1976 to 1982 with the United States Department of Defenses Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Cerf played a key role leading the development of Internet and Internet-related...

While IP-like SCPS protocols are feasible for short hops, such as ground station to orbiter, rover-to-lander, lander-to-orbiter, probe-to-flyby, and so on, delay-tolerant networking is needed to get information from one region of the solar system to another. It becomes apparent that the concept of a "region" is a natural architectural factoring of the InterPlanetary Internet. Two different Mars rover designs. ... Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN) is an approach to computer network architecture that seeks to address the technical issues in mobile or extreme environments that lack continuous network connectivity. ...

A "region" is an area where the characteristics of communication are the same^[7]. Region characteristics include communications, security, the maintenance of resources, perhaps ownership, and other factors^[7]. The Interplanetary Internet is a "network of regional internets."

What is needed then, is a standard way to achieve end-to-end communication through multiple regions in a disconnected, variable-delay environment using a generalized suite of protocols. Examples of regions might include the terrestrial Internet as a region, a region on the surface of the moon or Mars, or a ground-to-orbit region.

The recognition of this requirement led to the concept of a "bundle" as a high-level way to address the generalized Store-and-Forward problem. Bundles are an area of new protocol development in the upper layers of the OSI model, above the Transport Layer with the goal of addressing the issue of bundling store-and-forward information so that it can reliably traverse radically dissimilar environments constituting a "network of regional internets." The Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI Reference Model or OSI Model for short) is a layered, abstract description for communications and computer network protocol design, developed as part of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) initiative. ... The Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI Reference Model or OSI Model for short) is a layered, abstract description for communications and computer network protocol design, developed as part of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) initiative. ...

Bundle Service Layering, implemented as the Bundling protocol suite, will provide general purpose delay tolerant protocol services in support of a range of applications: custody transfer, segmentation and reassembly, end-to-end reliability, end-to-end security, and end-to-end routing among them.

The Deep Impact mission

An example of one of these end-to-end applications flown on a space mission is CFDP, used on the comet mission, Deep Impact. CFDP is the CCSDS File Delivery Protocol^[8] an international standard for automatic, reliable file transfer in both directions. CFDP should not be confused with Coherent File Distribution Protocol, which unfortunately has the same acronym and is an IETF-documented experimental protocol for rapidly deploying files to multiple targets in a highly-networked environment. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (900x900, 44 KB) fr : Image de limpact entre le module SMART et Tempel 1 prise par la caméra haute résolution de Deep Impact 67 secondes après limpact. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (900x900, 44 KB) fr : Image de limpact entre le module SMART et Tempel 1 prise par la caméra haute résolution de Deep Impact 67 secondes après limpact. ... Illustration of the Deep Impact space probe after impactor separation (artists conception) Deep Impact is a NASA space probe designed to study the composition of the interior of the comet Tempel 1. ... Illustration of the Deep Impact space probe after impactor separation (artists conception) Deep Impact is a NASA space probe designed to study the composition of the interior of the comet Tempel 1. ... Coherent File Distribution Protocol (CFDP) is an IETF-documented experimental protocol intended for high-speed one-to-many file transfers. ... The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is charged with developing and promoting Internet standards. ...

In addition to reliably copying a file from one entity (i. e. a spacecraft or ground station) to another entity, the CCSDS CFDP has the capability to reliably transmit arbitrary small messages defined by the user, in the metadata accompanying the file, and to reliably transmit commands relating to file system management that are to be executed automatically on the remote end-point entity (i. e., a spacecraft) upon successful reception of a file.

The dormant InterPlanetary Internet Special Interest Group of the Internet Society has worked on defining protocols and standards that would make the IPN possible.^[9] The Delay Tolerant Networking Research Group (DTNRG) is the primary group researching Delay-tolerant networking which has several major arenas of application in addition to the Interplanetary Internet, including stressed tactical communications, sensor webs, disaster recovery, hostile environments, and remote outposts.^[10] As an example of a remote outpost, imagine an isolated Arctic village or a faraway island, with electricity, and one or more computers but no communication connectivity. With the addition of a simple wireless hotspot in the village, plus DTN-enabled devices on, say, dog sleds or fishing boats, a resident would be able to check their e-mail or click on a wikipedia article, and have their requests forwarded to the nearest networked location on the sled's or boat's next visit, and get the replies on its return. The Internet Society or ISOC is an international organization that promotes Internet use and access. ... Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN) is an approach to computer network architecture that seeks to address the technical issues in mobile or extreme environments that lack continuous network connectivity. ...

As of 2005, NASA has cancelled plans to launch the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter in September 2009; it had the goal of supporting future missions to Mars and would have functioned as a possible first definitive Internet hub around another planetary body. Introduction NASA planned to establish a so-called interplanetary Internet with the launch of the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter in 2009. ...

See also

• InterPlaNet

InterPlaNet (IPN) is a computer networking protocol designed to operate at interplanetary distances, where traditional protocols such as the Internet Protocol break down. ...

References

External links

• The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS)
• CCSDS History
• Participation in CCSDS
• Proximity-1 links Mars Comms, Disney & Interplanetary Internet
• ISO Feature: Deep Impact
• ISO Feature: Mars and Prox-1
• NASA'S MESSENGER & CFDP
• The InterPlaNetary Internet Project IPN Special Interest Group

• Overview - Delay Tolerant Networks - IPN Phase II: The Next Steps
• Delay-Tolerant Networking - An Approach to InterPlanetary Internet
• Delay-Tolerant Network Architecture: The Evolving Interplanetary Internet
• The Interplanetary Network: A Strategy for Building Re-Usable International Space Communications Infrastructure

• The Delay Tolerant Networking Research Group (DTNRG)
• Burleigh, Scott, CCSDS File Delivery Protocol in Delay-Tolerant Networking, GSAW 2003
• Burleigh, Scott, Operating CFDP in the Interplanetary Internet