An intelligent mobile agent is an autonomous decision maker that moves from node to node, gathering information, and then takes actions based on the gathered information to achieve its purpose. The agent uses the knowledge it acquires to determine future actions. This paper describes a framework for an IP-based protocol that allows intelligent mobile agents to function within the network layer. This framework will provide an autonomous, flexible system with the ability to seamlessly handle space-based Internet routing; a volatile, sometimes unpredictable environment. We extend the capabilities of the Internet Protocol (IP) to allow and facilitate the existence of intelligent mobile agents within the network layer, creating what we term Intelligent Internet Protocol (IIP). A. Space-based Networking There are numerous difficulties in dealing with space-based networking 15. Spacecraft can communicate with one another only when they are in Line of Sight, so communication links are constantly severed and re-established due to the nature of orbits. Unexpected events such as solar flares and poor weather on earth can further hamper groundto-space communication. Currently, satellites do not communicate using IP, but instead use a blend of customized protocols. This communications infrastructure requires custom-built hardware and software to test and integrate the communication systems for each spacecraft. A standardized infrastructure would facilitate easier deployment, greater extensibility, and lower costs. Full support for IP-based space communication would benefit NASA because IP is an industrystandard communication protocol. Further, since IP is used in the Internet, it is continually being tested, researched, and developed worldwide. Therefore, NASA has developed a serious interest in applying IP to space communication networks 2,3,7,16 .

Future space missions will benefit from an evolvable communication infrastructure, which can be built cost effectively over a period of time. This evolvable infrastructure needs to include two way high data rate transfers to support human exploration missions, and asymmetric high data rate links to support scientific missions. For this communication infrastructure to be effective, it needs to be designed on an architecture that has common standards and interfaces. The Internet Protocol (IP) provides such an architecture and has the benefit of interoperability with the terrestrial Internet. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a network emulator that would be capable of testing future deep space communication architectures. This design presented is flexible and lightweight, allowing missions such as communication with a rover on Mars, human exploration missions, Earth observing senor webs, and many more scenarios. Along with the vast scenario capabilities, newly developed protocols and modifications to existing protocols can easily be tested and evaluated within the network emulator. We have tested and shown the emulator's ability to apply arbitrary bit error rates and delays on packets traversing the network.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract