Next-Gen Internet Launched at USC Stevens Inst.

[exfileme]

The next-generation Internet will be a decentralized, universally accessible, open platform.

Next-Gen Internet Launched at USC Stevens Inst. : Read more

 

[joytech22]

The next step in Skynet!

Just kidding, but sounds promising, especially if neighbours can connect to more than one signal at any one time, allowing neighbours to "combine" their internet and share it.

Me and some friends have wanted to do that for a while but it only works if our computer has more than one wireless card..

 

[dimamu15]

I wonder how fast it really is, and when they will start to integrate it internationally.

 

[LuckyDucky7]

Wait... so we're actually making something better than the AWFUL IPv6?

Make it RFC, and sign me up.

 

[Hupiscratch]

Censor-proof? Surveillance-proof? Sorry US, you´ll be left out of this.

 

[AnUnusedUsername]

I really hope a wireless focused design doesn't mean wireless exclusively. Wireless is inherently unstable and insecure. No matter how well implemented, sending signals over the air is going to have connection issues occasionally and be less secure than a dedicated line, and I for one am not interested in an exclusively wireless connection. Sure, a global wireless network that doesn't cost anyone anything to use would be nice, but it just isn't feasible and even if implemented it wouldn't eliminate the need for the occasional wired connection.

 

[Guest]

Better title: "Wall of Bullsh*t Launched at USC Stevens Institute". It's like somebody put all the social-media and networking coverage of the last year into Dissociated Press and formatted it into a press release. Call us back when you guys have got some *working* hardware, mkay?

 

[ProDigit10]

Great,
Now your iphones and android phones last only 2 hours on standby.
Also, now you get traced for someone living a mile away using your cellphone's internet connection to browse for child porn or so!

No for real, it's a great idea and all, but I don't think it'll work out very well. Unless wireless routers in homes will be linked together, or PC's; mobile devices need their battery life too much to have such a network enabled.
besides, it'd be enormously slow to have internet from hopping 4 or 5 cellphones before an internet access point has been made.

Black networks (or intranets) exist already for a long time, but their range is limited.

I don't see this becoming practical, unless cellphones will increase in battery life by over 8x (partly due to hardware optimizations (eg die shrinks), partly due to software optimizations, partly due to larger batteries.

 

[memadmax]

This will flop.

Too much time and money invested in the internet for starters.
It sounds like the traditional "central" ISP providers will be locked out as well... and comcast and AT&T will fight tooth and nail to prevent this from happening....

Sign me up.

 

[Marco925]

HA! take that china!

 

[johnsmithhatesVLC]

Things are going to be ridiculously slow using an ad hoc network because there's a hardware limit to how much data each device or node in the network. One slow node could cause half a region to be slow if it's the only node linking the two halves. The concept is still interesting.

 

[enzo matrix]

[citation][nom]LuckyDucky7[/nom]Wait... so we're actually making something better than the AWFUL IPv6?Make it RFC, and sign me up.[/citation]
Dude, the article said it will use EXISTING internet protocols. ie, ipv4 of ipv6.

Article:

While the current world wide web is migrating over to IPv6 before surfers finally come to a screeching halt at The End of the Internet

First off, this is the first I have heard of an active migration. Second, the second part of that sentence has some serious propaganda and "throwing things out of proportion" issues.

Now, I can see two immediate glaring issues with this new idea.
1. Security. Every device acting as a router? Wow.
2. IP addresses: If every device is a router, then every device will have an external IP address. In this case, the lack of IPv4 addresses actually becomes a problem. So this idea would require IPv6 addresses exclusively.

 

[Nexus52085]

[citation][nom]Hupiscratch[/nom]Censor-proof? Surveillance-proof? Sorry US, you´ll be left out of this.[/citation]
Nah, more like China will be left out of this.

 

[fball922]

Didn't they develop something similar for the Large Hadron Collider that they called "Grid" or something?

Anywho, love the idea, unfortunately I cannot ever see this taking a strong foothold. For being a "free" nation, ours is one who's leaders (on both sides of the aisle) love having their controls in place should they need it. The idea of not being able to easily (and more importantly, covertly) tap into a source to extract information is certainly not high on leadership's list of priorities.

Still, we can all dream

 

[ivan_chess]

So, this would make sniffing packets really easy. Do make online purchases using my router, I'll even provide the encryption for you!

 

[archange]

No single state or organization can effectively censor or surveil the population on a broad scale.

Yeah, I can see why the whole idea will gather strong support... right.

 

[brisingamen]

this will definitly come to fruition, the day will come where every inch of the earth and then solar system will be covered in wi fi. the internet will one day surpass government, and corporations in the direction of humanity.

 

[thomaseron]

This is Skynet 0.1, or something. Too bad I'm not old, so I (along with about 5 billion others) have to live through it...

 

[custodian-1]

Toms Hardware why don't you block web sites that spam they are all the same site name

 

[wiyosaya]

[citation][nom]memadmax[/nom]This will flop.Too much time and money invested in the internet for starters.It sounds like the traditional "central" ISP providers will be locked out as well... and comcast and AT&T will fight tooth and nail to prevent this from happening....Sign me up.[/citation]
Everyone will still need some means of access. That means ATT, Comcast, Time Warner, etc., whether we like it or not, unless some new method is devised. It does not sound like this effort is devising that new method of net access.[citation][nom]johnsmithhatesVLC[/nom]Things are going to be ridiculously slow using an ad hoc network because there's a hardware limit to how much data each device or node in the network. One slow node could cause half a region to be slow if it's the only node linking the two halves. The concept is still interesting.[/citation]
In some cases, this may be slow, however, I doubt that they are devising a method where the entire traffic of the internet will be through any one single node. Yes, that would be slow. I would expect that they will either use existing routing algorithms (Dykstra, et. al.) or devise new ones where each node will be smart enough to find the quickest path from one node to the next. Such an algorithm will almost certainly mean that the entire traffic of the internet will not be through your home PC unless your home PC happens to be the fastest on the internet with the fastest internet connection in the entire internet.