Chapter 4
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNET
In the next ten years, the Internet is expected to be enormously bigger than it is today. It will be more pervasive than the older technologies and penetrate more homes than television and radio programming. Computer chips are now being built that implement the TCP/IP protocols and recently a university announced a two-chip web server. Chips like this are extremely small and cost very little. And they can be put into anything. Many of the devices connected to the Internet will be Internet-enabled appliances (cell phones, fax machines, household appliances, hand-held organizers, digital cameras, etc.) as well as traditional laptop and desktop computers. Information access will be directed to digital objects of all kinds and services that help to create them or make use of them
INTERNET 2
Internet2 is better than the current Internet. It is a research development consortium whose members are dedicated to making the Internet of the future quick and fast enough to handle demanding new applications as the current Internet does not have enough bandwidth to support futuristic technologies such as tele-immersion (collaboration in virtual world) and video-on-demand (high-quality movies accessible anytime).
Internet2 has members from more than 190 universities, corporations, and research centers. Internet2 consortium arose out of a series of conferences attended by academic, government, and industry representatives. Internet2 Advanced Applications enable collaboration among people and interactive access to information and resources in a way not possible on today's Internet.
The current Internet does not allow multicasting because the data carrying capacity per second is not able to support applications that need to use a lot of bandwidth. The most popular T-carrier line is the T1 and T3 lines. T1 data transfer rate is 1.544Mbps while T3 line is equal in speed to 28 T1 lines. Main users of T3 lines are large companies, telephone companies, and web hosting providers. Internet2 that is being developed in America uses the current fastest line that is OC-48 that is Optic Cable 48 and is capable of carrying up to 2.5Gbps(gigabits per second). Today the Next Generation Internet (NGI) Program in America is trying hard to developing Terabit per second networking while Internet2 multicast developers are working on protocols that will support multicasting to enable broadcasters to send video to a broad audience. There is no doubt that in the near future Internet will be interactive TV.
INTERNET PROTOCOL VERSION 6
Internet Protocol Version 6 is better known as IPv6. It is the next generation protocol designed by the IETF to replace the current version Internet Protocol, IP Version 4 ("IPv4").
Most of today's Internet uses IPv4, which is about twenty years old. IPv4 has been remarkably resilient in spite of its age, but it is beginning to have problems. Most importantly, there is a growing shortage of IPv4 addresses, which are needed by all new machines added to the Internet.
IPv6 fixes a number of problems in IPv4, such as the limited number of available IPv4 addresses. It also adds many improvements to IPv4 in areas such as routing and network auto configuration. IPv6 is expected to gradually replace IPv4, with the two coexisting for a number of years during a transition period.
INTERNET ODOR
In America, DigiScents, Inc. is developing a digital scent device, called the iSmell. The device is able to transmit digitized smells through the computer. A prototype of the iSmell Personal Scent Synthesizer is shaped like a shark's fin, and it will be connected to the computer through USB port. It can be plugged into any ordinary electrical outlet.
DigiScents has indexed thousands of smells based on their chemical structure and their place on the scent spectrum. Each scent is then coded and digitized into a small file. The digital file is embedded in Web content or e-mail. A user requests or triggers the file by clicking a mouse or opening an e-mail. A small amount of the aroma is emitted by the device in the direct vicinity of the user.
The iSmell can create thousands of everyday scents with a small cartridge that contains 128 primary odors. These primary odors are mixed together to generate other smells that closely replicate common natural and manmade odors.
In the future Real Networks plans to make DigiScents' ScentStream software available to its more than 115 million RealPlayer users.
INTERNET FLAVORS
TriSenx, an American company is planning to allow Internet surfers to not only download scents, but to print out flavors that can be tasted. TriSenx has developed a patented technology that allows surfers to print smells onto thick fiber paper sheets and taste specific flavors by licking the paper coated with the smell.
The SENX machine is a printer-like desktop device that will produce smells based on data programmed into a Web page. SENX stands for Sensory Enhanced Net eXperience. The fragrances and aromas are stored in a disposable cartridge within the SENX. This cartridge has 20 chambers, each holding a distinct scent. Thousands of smells can be created with a 20-chamber cartridge and a 40-palette rendition, which composes two separate cartridges.
The SENX is 5.5 inches wide, 8 inches long and 2.5 inches tall (14 x 20 x 6.4 cm). Internet surfers have to plug the device into an open external COM port on their computers, and it will be powered by a DC 6-volt rechargeable battery. In the future the word 'multimedia' will no longer limited to animation, graphics, video and audio but will also include scents and flavors
AIRBORNE INTERNET
That speed of 56Kbps modem is far too slow to handle the huge streaming-video
and music files. Bigger bandwidth that allows a greater amount of data to flow
to and from the computer is needed. Land-based lines are limited physically
in how much data they can deliver because of the diameter of the cable or phone
line. In an airborne Internet, there is no such physical limitation, enabling
a broader capacity.
The airborne Internet will function much like satellite-based Internet access,
but without the time delay. Bandwidth of satellite and airborne Internet access
are typically the same, but it will take less time for the airborne Internet
to relay data because it is not as high up. Satellites orbit at several hundreds
of miles above Earth. The airborne-Internet aircraft will circle overhead at
an altitude of 15,000 to 21,000 meters. At this altitude, the aircraft will
not be affected by the weather.
Networks using high-altitude airplane will also have a cost advantage over satellites because the airplane can be deployed easily -- they don't have to be launched into space. However, the airborne Internet will actually be used to compliment the satellite and ground-based networks, not replace them.
The airborne Internet won't be completely wireless. There will be ground-based components to any type of airborne Internet network. Internet surfers will have to install an antenna in order to receive signals from the network hub overhead. The networks will also work with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), who will provide their high-capacity terminals for use by the network. These ISPs have a fiber point of presence -- their fiber optics is already set up. In the future this airborne Internet will provide an infrastructure that can reach areas that don't have broadband cables and wires.
E-LEARNING
Recent technological advances have created the possibility for new ways of
learning and teaching. The use of the World Wide Web as an instructional tool
is gaining popularity as more teachers, instructors, and trainers incorporate
it into their repertoire. Any instruction that makes use of a computer is called
Computer Based Training (CBT), and those strategies that employ the Internet
as tool for instructional information are known as Web-Based Instruction (WBI).
WBI can be employed in a distance education model or as an adjunct to teacher-led
classrooms
WBI can be used to meet the needs of a more diverse student group. Typical classes
consist of students with varying abilities and previous knowledge, and WBI can
help a teacher address these differences. WBI also allows students to work a
pace that is more comfortable - some students work faster than their peers while
others may wish to take longer. In addition, the use of WBI provides the opportunity
for multiple grade levels to be accommodated in the same classroom at the same
time.
From a teacher's perspective, WBI can help with many daily management tasks by reducing the paper flow required for paper-based instruction, allowing for quick and easy revisions to instructional materials, and ensuring that instructional materials are always available to students. In addition, because the bulk of instruction is delivered via the Web, the teacher is free to spend time working with individual students and small groups; less time is spent in whole-class instruction.
Web-Based Instruction can also offer students a "virtual teacher" because students can access the instructional materials anytime and anywhere. This allows students who were absent the opportunity to access instructional materials away from school, and even the possibility to accommodate students in a course when their schedule is full.
At this moment, Web-based Instruction is in its infancy. Researches are being done on Web-based Instruction but in the near future when the Internet connection is super fast Web-based Instruction will be a norm.
TELEMEDICINE
Telemedicine is being developed in medical field. It is a joint effort of medical societies, the government, communications companies and Internet Service Providers that allows healthcare professionals and consumers to access medical care through computers with videoconferencing capabilities. A doctor at one place can have a videoconference with a doctor at another place. Many thanks to the Internet, areas such as medical research, training, collaboration and treatment are using telemedicine.
MOBILE COMPUTING
Mobile computing will be the next big thing as the voice transfer (Mobile phone) market reaches saturation. First generation mobile communications operated using now defunct analog systems, and were replaced with second generation digital services offering amongst others features text messaging, and improved signal quality and coverage. At the moment a so called 2.5G system uses GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) to give an always-on service, with data and voice transmissions being transferred in small packets on a frequency, instead of taking up a whole channel. The implications of this technology include cheaper services and faster connection, but with 3G technology or UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system), the increased bandwidth gives speeds of up to 2Mbps instead of the 115Kbps possible with GPRS.
WAP
The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is an open, global specification that empowers mobile users with wireless devices to easily access and interact with information and services instantly. WAP enables easy fast delivery of relevant information and services to mobile users. Devices that use WAP are handheld digital wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, smart phones and communicators -- from low-end to high-end.
WAP is designed to work with most wireless networks such as CDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, ReFLEX, iDEN, TETRA, DECT, DataTAC, Mobitex and GRPS. WAP is a communications protocol and application environment. It can be built on any operating system including PalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, JavaOS etc. It provides service interoperability even between different device families
INTERPLANETARY INTERNET
Interplanetary Internet is a communication system to provide Internet-like services across interplanetary distances in support of deep space exploration. The communications environment is characterized by high bandwidth-delay products resulting from very long signal propagation delays, intermittent connectivity that results in long periods of network partitioning, and discontinuities in the capabilities of adjacent networks.
Very high-speed networking is being developed at a steady pace. From the original 50,000 bit-per-second ARPANET, to the 155 million bit-per-second NSFNET, to today's 2.4 - 9.6 billion bit-per-second commercial networks, we routinely see commercial offerings providing Internet access at increasing speeds. Experimentation with optical technology using wavelength division multiplexing is underway in many quarters; and test beds operating at speeds of terabits per second (that is trillions of bits-per-second) are being constructed.
Some of these ultra-high speed systems may one-day carry data from very far away places, like Mars. The design of the interplanetary Internet as a logical extension of the current Internet is part of the NASA Mars mission program now underway at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. By 2008, we should have a well functioning Earth-Mars network that serves as a nascent backbone of the interplanetary Internet.