The operational stability of the global Internet (or any network based on TCP/IP technology) is in large part the result of a carefully configured routing system. Routing continues to be one of the most complex topics in Internet engineering. In our first article, Russ White describes some mechanisms for the design of large-scale, stable routing systems. The article is entitled "High Availability in Routing."

Security continues to be a high-priority item in computer networks and in society in general. One aspect of security is the identification system by which an individual is given authorized access to a particular facility, be it physical or virtual. Edgar Danielyan gives us an overview of one key element of identification, namely biometrics.

The Internet is "going where no network has gone before." The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been working on the Interplanetary Internet Project (http://www.ipnsig.org/). We hope to bring you an in-depth article about this project in a future issue. An important demonstration of this system took place recently. To quote from the press release:

"A pioneering demonstration of communications between NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express orbiter has succeeded. On February 6, 2004, while Mars Express was flying over the area Spirit was examining, the orbiter transferred commands from Earth to the rover and relayed data from the robotic explorer back to Earth. The commands for the rover were transferred from Spirit's operations team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, to ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, where they were translated into commands for Mars Express. The translated commands were transmitted to Mars Express, which used them to successfully command Spirit. Spirit used its ultra-high frequency antenna to transit telemetry information to Mars Express. The orbiter relayed the data back to JPL, via the European Space Operations Centre."

We often receive requests for back issues of IPJ. Although we cannot provide paper copies, all of our previously published editions are available in both PDF and HTML format here.