Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Internet Routing In Space Now, Venus Equilateral Station Later
Internet Routing In Space (IRIS) is a Department of Defense project to test the utility of using the Internet Protocol (IP) to manage data traffic between satellites in space. Cisco Systems Inc. and Intelsat General Corp. are among the companies selected by the DoD for the IRIS program.
Initial users of the system will be military; IRIS will serve as a "processor in the sky," merging communications being received on various frequency bands and transmitting them to multiple users based on data instructions embedded in the uplink.
Eventually, the IRIS system (or its technology) could be integrated in the Internet that we all use, moving packets through space to reduce delays. It would offer greater flexibility in routing packets, which is one of the great strengths of the Internet as a data network.
Science fiction fans already know that space is the place for communications. George O. Smith, in his 1942 novella QRM - Interplanetary, wrote about a fictional extension to the work of the Army Signal Corps. The main "switchboard" was located at Venus Equilateral Station:
... weak and as wobbly as it was, was taken in by eager receptors... it was dehashed, destaticked and deloused [and] was hurled out on a tight beam from a gigantic parabolic reflector.
Across sixty-seven million miles of space went the signal. Across the orbit of Venus it went in a vast chord, and arrived at the Venus Equilateral Station... beams from Venus Equilateral were directed at Mars and Terra...
If this topic interests you, you might take a look at these stories - Mars Telecommunication Orbiter - Interplanetary Broadband and (unfortunately) Mars Telecommunications Orbiter Canceled. Read about the current story at Intelsat to Test Internet Routing in Space for the U.S. Military and U.S. military plans to put Internet router in space.
"IRIS extends the Internet into space, integrating satellite systems and the ground infrastructure for warfighters, first responders and others who need seamless and instant communications," said Bill Shernit, President and CEO of Intelsat General. "IRIS will enable U.S. and allied military forces with diverse satellite equipment to seamlessly communicate over the Internet from the most remote regions of the world."
"The IRIS architecture allows direct IP routing over satellite, eliminating the need for routing via a ground-based teleport, thereby dramatically increasing the efficiency and flexibility of the satellite communications link," said Don Brown, Vice President of Hosted Payload Programs for Intelsat General. "IRIS is to the future of satellite-based communications what ARPANET was to the creation of the Internet in the 1960s."
The [signal] was hurled at the sky out of a reflector antenna by a thousand-kilowatt transmitter. The wave seared against the Venusian Heaviside Layer... [it] emerged ... as a weak, piffling signal...
(Read more about the Venus Equilateral Relay Station)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/15/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Communication ")
Will Whales Be Our First Contact?
'He had piloted the Adastra to its first contact with the civilization of another solar system.' - Murray Leinster, 1935.
NYC/Dublin Portal Fails To Meet 'Guardian Of Forever' Standards
I am the Guardian of Forever.
Holobox? Who Doesn't Want A Home Hologram?
'...there appeared standing upon the disk, the image of a man...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1928.
EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
'McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface.' - Frank Herbert, 1964.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Miss Alabama Beauty Contest Offers Different Standards
'...they moved with the ease of dandelion puffs.'
Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
'...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...'
Prufrock-3 'The Monster' Ready To Launch
Just go for it.
Drones In Vast Airborne Grids
'These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern...'
Starship Special Edition For Lunar Shuttle
Love those special edition spaceships.
Capturing Asteroids With Nets
'...the meteor caught and halted just as a small boy catches a swift ball in his cap.'
Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed!
'We have decided that it shall be but one ship... it must contain everything needed to take us through the generations.'
AI Welfare Position At Anthropic Filled By Human
'You’re the robopsychologist of the plant, so you’re to study the robot itself...'
Marslink Proposed By SpaceX
'It was the heart of the Solar System's communication line...'
Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Wood-Panelled LignoSat Launched
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
Laser-Beam Welding In Orbital Factories
'His contract with Space Industries required him to work summers in their orbital factory.'
'Iceberg House' Of Travis Kelce Reflects Science Fiction Of Past Century
'The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock that folded up to underlie the ridge...'
Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
