Interesting new development on interprobe telcoms

A fascinating article a few months old already, but interesting in that people over at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the States are developing a new telecommunications standard for probe-to-probe and probe internet communications. This new protocol called "DTN" is specifically designed for situations where there is no telco infrastructure and bad latency issues, such as outer space, underwater etc. Some tests have been carried out over the last few years, naturally in a military contingency context by people like Internet grandpa DARPA, but also with applications to the international space station in 2009 although the article doesn't mention when.

According to NASA's website, the goal is to get these up and running and tested by 2011. According to the multi-governmental Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems December newsletter, the first tests with the International Space Station using this protocol were successful last November, although from one well-defined, well-equipped station to another, this hardly proves much. The ground-based testing by DARPA looks good for now in controlled earth-based environments. The next two years promise much in terms of real-world applicability.