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Vint Cerf Plugs Android Into Interplanetary Net

Posted by kdawson on from the hot-dead-birds dept.

Several readers sent in an update on DTN, the interplanetary Internet protocol that Vint Cerf has been working on for many years (and we have been discussing for nearly as long). The news now is that Cerf has added a DTN stack to the open source Android code, seeing uses in mobile applications for a protocol that does not assume a continuous connection.

3 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. Synergy by AlecC · · Score: 5, Insightful

    See? Space research does have spinoffs for everyday life. If we weren't trying to get to Mars, we wouldn't have this useful protocol for Earthside use.

    Double NASA's budget at once.

    --
    Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
  2. Re:Vint Cerf Got the Ill Communication by RivieraKid · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you have a constant speed (i.e. the speed of light), then units that normally describe duration can reasonably be used to indicate distance, especially over great distances.

    Think of the light year mentioned above. A light year is the distance that light can travel in a year - so we're using a unit of time to describe distance. It works because the speed of light is the same regardless of your frame of reference, which also means the distance is the same regardless of your frame of reference.

    --
    "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves
  3. 1980 wants its protocol back by thethibs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sounds like uucp over zmodem.

    --
    I'm a Programmer. That's one level above Software Engineer and one level below Engineer.