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elements of computing

3. communications

there are many ways to frame communications

I will focus on...

connecting networks

It comes in three levels: data, value, and state.

data

In the 60s we got the

ARPAnet⁠

Its success spawned several similar networks like

NPL⁠

and

CYCLADES⁠

A new problem arose: they didn’t talk to each other.

Cerf and Kahn invented

TCP/IP⁠

in the 70s to connect them, to create a network of networks, which we now call the internet.

TCP/IP is now the de-facto standard to connect networks.

⁠

OSI⁠

was a competing set of protocols, but it’s long faded; though, ironically, its model has proved useful.

So, despite its age, TCP/IP is nonetheless a decentralized building block, for connecting networks of data.

⁠

Tor Project⁠

can be seen as a TCP/IP overlay to help protect users’ privacy.

However, it has points of centralization, not to mention funding from the DoD which raises eyebrows.

Tokenized Tor-like projects are emerging; stay tuned.

value

TCP/IP only connects networks on a data level.

You can double-spend packets — send the same packet to more than one destination at once — and it doesn’t care.

But what about connecting networks where you can send value across the networks?

For example, from Bitcoin to Ethereum, or even SWIFT payments network to say Ripple’s XRP network.

You only want the token to be able to go to one destination at a time.

One way to connect networks while preventing double-spends is to use an exchange. But that’s traditionally pretty heavy.

However, you can strip an exchange to its essence and remove the need for a trusted middleman, by using cryptographic escrow.

Alice can send money to Bob via Mallory, where Mallory is passing on the funds but cannot spend them

(and there’s a timeout so that Mallory can’t stall things forever).

This is the essence behind the

Interledger Protocol⁠

(ILP).

It’s the same conceptual idea as two-way pegs (think sidechains) and state channels (think

Lightning⁠

Raiden⁠

);

but the focus is 100% on connecting networks with respect to value.

Besides ILP, there’s also

Cosmos⁠

which adds a bit more complexity for more convenience.

state

Can we go beyond connecting networks of value?

Imagine a computer virus with its own Bitcoin wallet that can hop from one network to another.

Or a smart contract in Ethereum mainnet that can move its state to another Ethereum net, or another compatible net?

Or, why restrict an

AI DAO⁠

to just one net?

This where

Polkadot⁠

comes in, to connect networks of state.

⁠

Aeternity⁠

also fits somewhere between the network-of-value and network-of-state spectrum.

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