Design Considerations for Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Communication
RFC 6921
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(April 2013; No errata)
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RFC 6921 (Informational)
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Independent Submission R. Hinden
Request for Comments: 6921 Check Point Software
Category: Informational 1 April 2013
ISSN: 2070-1721
Design Considerations for Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Communication
Abstract
We are approaching the time when we will be able to communicate
faster than the speed of light. It is well known that as we approach
the speed of light, time slows down. Logically, it is reasonable to
assume that as we go faster than the speed of light, time will
reverse. The major consequence of this for Internet protocols is
that packets will arrive before they are sent. This will have a
major impact on the way we design Internet protocols. This paper
outlines some of the issues and suggests some directions for
additional analysis of these issues.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This is a contribution to the RFC Series, independently of any other
RFC stream. The RFC Editor has chosen to publish this document at
its discretion and makes no statement about its value for
implementation or deployment. Documents approved for publication by
the RFC Editor are not a candidate for any level of Internet
Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6921.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2013 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
to this document.
Hinden Informational [Page 1]
RFC 6921 Design Considerations for FTL Communication 1 April 2013
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Protocol Design Considerations for FTL Communication . . . . . 3
2.1. Related Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. FTL Communication Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. IETF Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1. Introduction
We are approaching the time when we will be able to communicate
faster than the speed of light. It is well known that as we approach
the speed of light, time slows down. Logically, it is reasonable to
assume that as we go faster than the speed of light, time will
reverse. The major consequence of this for Internet protocols is
that packets will arrive before they are sent. This will have a
major impact on the way we design Internet protocols. This paper
outlines some of the issues and suggests some directions for
additional analysis of these issues.
There is a lot of discussion in the physics community about faster-
than-light travel and communication. In fact, it even has a well
known acronym "FTL". This acronym will be used in the remainder of
this document.
FTL issues have been discussed in the scientific literature for a
long time. For example, it was discussed in 1917 in the section
"Velocities Greater than that of Light" on page 54 of "The Theory of
the Relativity of Motion" [Tolman]. A good overall description of
the effects of FTL communication can be found in [Goldberg].
[Ardavan] describes a "polarization synchrontron", which pushes radio
waves faster than the speed of light. In the paper, the author
explains:
...though no superluminal source of electromagnetic fields can be
point-like, there are no physical principles preventing extended
faster-than-light sources. The coordinated motion of aggregates
of subluminally-moving charged particles can give rise to
macroscopic polarization currents whose distribution patterns move
superluminally. Further relevant progress occurred with the
theoretical prediction that extended sources that move faster than
their own waves could be responsible for the extreme properties of
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