InterPlaNetary Internet

 Project Overview

To build a general space Internet architecture that combines differently -challenging parts, our view of the   InterPlaNetary  Internet is depicted in Figure 1. It includes InterPlaNetary Backbone Network, InterPlaNetary External Networks, and PlaNetary Networks.

                                 Figure 1. The InterPlaNetary Internet architecture.

• InterPlaNetary Backbone Network: It provides a common infrastructure for communications among the Earth, outer-space planets, moons, satellite, and relay stations placed at gravitationally stable Lagrangian points  of planets, etc. It includes the data links (direct link or multi-hop paths) between elements with long-haul capabilities, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. The InterPlaNetary Backbone Network architecture.

• InterPlaNetary External Network: It consists of spacecrafts flying in groups in deep space between planets, clusters of sensor nodes, and groups of space stations, etc. Some nodes in the InterPlaNetary External Network also have long-haul communication capabilities. 

• PlaNetary Network: The PlaNetary Network  is composed of PlaNetary Satellite Network and PlaNetary Surface Network. This architecture can be implemented at any outer-space planet, providing interconnection and cooperation  among the satellites and surface elements on a plane, as shown in Figure 3.

  
  
  
  
  
  Figure 3. The PlaNetary Network architecture.

-  PlaNetary Satellite Network: It is composed of satellites which lie in multiple layers  and provides the  following services: Intermediary caching and relay service between the Earth and the planet, relay service between the in-situ mission elements, and location management of  PlaNetary Surface Networks. 

-  PlaNetary Surface Network: It provides the communication links between high power surface elements, such as rovers and landers, which have the capability to connect with satellites. They also provide a power-stable wireless backbone in the planet. Moreover, PlaNetary Surface Network includes surface elements that cannot  communicate with satellites directly. These elements are often organized in clusters and spread out in an ad hoc manner, e.g., sensor nodes and balloons as illustrated in Figure 3.