Internet's 'Father' and the interplanetary protocol

Internet's 'Father' and the interplanetary protocol Picture 1 32 years ago, two computer scientists Vinton G. Ceft and Robert E.Kahn sat together at a hotel in Palo Alto, California, USA, and outlined code to strengthen the network. Internet.

The TCP / IP protocol gives the computer standard addresses so that they can exchange data packets with each other.It is the foundation and foundation for us to get the "e" in "e-mail", ebiz (e-business) and everything next.

Since then, the two computer scientists have been considered the "father" of the Internet and received the honor of research.Most recently, on June 8, 2005, the two men were awarded the "AT Turing" award - a Nobel Prize equivalent in computer science.

Vinton G. Ceft is 62 years old and is currently the vice president of technical strategy for MCI Group.For years, he has also worked hard to open up new horizons for the Internet.One of Ceft's most recent projects is the expansion of the Web address space to meet the growing needs of connected devices.In addition to devices such as TiVo, mobile phones, iPods, games . Cert thinks that the connection list will one day include nano devices like micro chips.

That is not all that Cert has been doing.For the past 7 years, this scientist, along with engineers of the jet engine laboratory, has studied and developed a new data transfer protocol called "InterPlaNet", expected to be put into use at the fund. the religion of Mars in 2009.

Today, NASA spacecraft has brought communication devices to communicate with the Earth.However, devices that perform different tasks cannot communicate with each other on different spacecraft.Just like the Internet connects computers into a large network, InterPlaNet will provide a common language to link all communications between spacecraft and earth stations.

The exchange of information in space is a huge challenge.An electronic signal travels from the Earth to the Moon (distance of 386,000 km) takes about 2.5 seconds;And it takes about 40 minutes if it reaches Mars.In general, fast or slow signal transmission depends on the interval between the planets;it is not taking into account the obstacle of cosmic storms - which is common on Mars.There is no way to eliminate latency in data transfer, but a smart system created by Cert can ensure the signal is transmitted continuously even if they are hindered by latency and cockroaches. paragraph.

Going back to the earth, Cert is busy dealing with "cramping" in cyberspace.The world is approaching the limit of 4.3 billion Internet addresses that the current version (IP4) of the Internet Protocol can meet.A new solution being tested is the IP6 version - capable of meeting 380 trillion trillions of trillion Internet addresses.Currently the global Internet structure is being upgraded gradually to IP6 version.

Although we may never use all of the addresses that IP6 provides, try figuring out someday micro-independent electronic devices are about the size of a biological cell. need to communicate with each other, they will use the source of IP6 rich addresses.

Vinton Cert interviewed about the future of the Internet

In 1973, Vinton Cert and Robert Kahn wrote software code to help information exchange in a large network like the Internet today.Named TCP / IP, the protocol allows computers to send data to other computers as if they were part of a large network.After 3 decades, Cert continues to study solutions to expand the capabilities of the Internet;and recently he had an interview with Business Week magazine about the future of the Internet.

Business Week : What is the biggest change that the Internet today brings?

Cert : The Internet is now able to convert a lot of data formats such as voice, audio, video, etc. especially the ability to transfer voice over IP (VoIP).If we use VoIP, we can communicate with each other more comfortably because we can transfer from voice to text and to video.

Business Week : What internet upgrade project are you currently working on?

Cert : I am participating in the IP6 version approval project, the next standard of IP protocol.The number of IP addresses of the current IP4 version only stands at 4.3 billion;while IP6 is 380 trillion trillions trillion.The IP6 version has been standardized for nearly 10 years, but its adoption is very slow, and only installed in certain areas.There are many customers who are requesting to use IP6, such as in Japan, China . In these places, more and more mobile devices are equipped with IP addresses, such as video games, TV boxes. , automatic devices, sensors .

Business Week : We are told that you are researching the possibility of extending Internet communication on space stations.So when does this project become reality?

Cert : I have been working with a jet propulsion laboratory since 1998 to standardize deep communications in space.For spacecraft that have been deployed in space, they need to be supplemented with communication capabilities to receive control information from the earth.

We are trying to standardize communication in space so that when new ships are launched, they can use the devices on the ships that were previously loaded.This idea is like connecting to the Internet and communicating with 4,000 other devices on the Internet.All will be easy because they are standardized.It is likely that in 2009, InterPlaNet protocol will be deployed on Mars orbit.

Business Week : The US ranked 16th in the list of broadband universalization in the world.So, in your opinion, will the United States follow beyond Korea, Japan and Scandanavia in terms of broadband and wireless technology?

Cert : Next-generation wireless technology - CDMA is being deployed by Qualcomm Group on a large scale.America as well as some other countries are very "eager" to develop many new applications, and I believe that the technology gap will be shortened.

Business Week : How can the US catch up with broadband technology?

Cert : The rapid development of broadband technology in countries such as Korea and Singapore is part of the way people live and where they reside - often in areas with high population density.In those places, broadband deployment is simply to take the fiber cable to the building and connect to Ethernet speed (from 10 to 100 Mbps).

The deployment of broadband at a farm is about 30km away from the postal center, costing a lot.Therefore, it is difficult to compare between the US and some of these countries while the infrastructure is still inadequate.So I think the first thing that America needs to do to keep up with broadband technology is to create a good infrastructure.