SPAN-AI simplifies and scales the Internet for generations to come – on earth and in space. It overcomes the limitations of the 60-year-old legacy Internet Protocol (IP) to enable next generation applications at scale such as AI, Industrial Automation, Augmented Reality, and humankind’s return to space.

In the words of the US patent examiner,

“The claimed invention is directed towards a comprehensive and multi-faceted content delivery system that is fully artificial intelligence (Al) driven, where Al components handle every facet of the content distribution means. These include naming, discovery, routing, publication, subscription, and security of content and network resources… no prior art found appears to teach or reasonably suggest the claimed invention, particularly the reliance upon a scalable hierarchical Al network consisting of numerous subsystems with additional embedded Al agents at every level of the distribution network.”

SPAN makes possible true Software Defined Networking. It is fully elastic, and distributes network functions and caching, vastly improving efficiency and utilisation of network resources. SPAN intelligent agents are trained and distributed to every device in the network, where they perform local optimisation of operations, caching, and routing/switching. Global supervising AIs optimise global performance and inter-operation, forming a Universal Content Distribution Network of intelligent networks.

While SPAN is based on three simple, patented innovations^[1], it completely transforms the Internet, while remaining fully backwards compatible. The distinction between network and server disappears. The network is the cloud™. Virtual network services and data are distributed to their most efficient locations, vasty reducing network load, latency, and cost; and increasing efficiency. Data follows interest. Massive video loads that are currently centralised, or partly distributed but fragmented, are distributed to the true edge, freeing up resources for new applications. Currently centralised and exponentially growing AI loads will be distributed also. Applications requiring local, real-time processing and decisions are enabled.

As we return to the moon and beyond, we will need to provide services that are the same as on earth, while being resilient to the challenges of space: vast distances and periods of isolation. State of the art laser technology solves the distance and bandwidth problem. A fully distributed, shardable network solves the isolation problem. SPAN-AI, combined with networks such as the Laser Light Communications and CommStar networks, is that network. A new epoch in the storied history of the Internet is beginning.

[1] Tagging data packets with a hashname; switching/routing the tagged packets at the network level; Machine Reinforcement Learning and stochastic optimisation of caching, switching and operations.