InterPlaNet (IPN), not to be confused with

InterPlanetary Network The InterPlanetary Network (IPN) is a group of spacecraft equipped with gamma ray burst (GRB) detectors. By timing the arrival of a burst at several spacecraft, its precise location can be found. The precision for determining the direction of a G ...

, is a computer networking protocol designed to operate at interplanetary distances, where traditional protocols such as the

Internet Protocol The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network layer communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet. IP ...

break down. It is the base for

Interplanetary Internet The interplanetary Internet is a conceived computer network in space, consisting of a set of network nodes that can communicate with each other. These nodes are the planet's orbiters and landers, and the Earth ground stations. For exampl ...

. It has been under development by

Vint Cerf Vinton Gray Cerf (; born June 23, 1943) is an American Internet pioneer and is recognized as one of "the fathers of the Internet", sharing this title with TCP/IP co-developer Robert Kahn. He has received honorary degrees and awards that inclu ...

and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

since 1998 and a permanent network link to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

was planned by 2008 until the

Mars Telecommunications Orbiter The Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO) was a cancelled Mars mission that was originally intended to launch in 2009 and would have established an Interplanetary Internet between Earth and Mars. The spacecraft would have arrived in a high orbi ...

was canceled in 2005. The protocol was expected to be space-qualified and ready for use by around 2010.

IPN Protocol Stack

The distance between the planets and their constant motion impose long and variable delay on the communications. Thus, the traditional protocol stack doesn't function properly. Delay/Disruption Tolerant Network (DTN) is implemented to address these constraints. DTN inserts a new set of protocols, called Bundling Protocols (BPs), to the traditional protocol stack. BP is a standard method of transmitting data using store-and-forward, where data are stored for a period of time at intermediate nodes along a network path, and forwarded to the next station when a link is available.

Licklider Transmission Protocol Licklider Transmission Protocol is a point to point protocol for use in deep space links. LTP is commonly seen as the standard underlying convergence layer protocol for the Bundle ProtocolsRFC 5050, supporting a wide selection of networks. ...

(LTP) is a BP and a transport protocol that functions in deep space. For an example of a dataflow with an intermediate space satellite between the deep space and the earth, see the figure. The intermediate node has two transport protocols, LTP (for data transmission over deep space communication links), and TCP (for transmission over earth communication links). The intermediate node turns the received data from LTP packets into TCP packets using their underlying convergence layer protocols. The protocols in the lower layers might change to support the corresponding communication and network. BP between planet orbiter and earth

References

External links

InterPlanetary Internet Special Interest Group
*https://web.archive.org/web/20090426064555/http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nost/nost/wwwclassic/documents/pdf/CCSDS-B10.0-Y-17.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Interplanet Network protocols

IPN Protocol Stack

See also

References

External links