An Interstellar Network Proxy for that distance cannot use "custody transfer" in the same way. The storage required is eternal. The proxy at the edge of the heliopause would become a digital ark .
The local node takes custody of the bundle. It sends a "receipt" back to the rover (taking 12 seconds, locally) and then stores the bundle on a radiation-hardened SSD. Only now does the Earth-bound journey begin. interstellar network proxy
Because light travel time is constant, the ISNP knows exactly when a request was sent relative to when a response can be received. This creates a predictable "latency lottery." An Interstellar Network Proxy for that distance cannot
The ping will never be zero. But with the ISNP, it will be enough. The local node takes custody of the bundle
TCP uses "sliding windows" to manage flow control. On Earth, a window size of 64KB works fine. Over a 20-light-minute link, you would need a window size measured in gigabytes just to keep the pipe filled, which is computationally impractical.
When we establish a permanent base on Mars, the Earth-Mars distance varies between 4 and 24 light-minutes. A standard "ping" to a server on Earth would take between 8 and 48 minutes round trip. Traditional protocols like TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) would time out immediately. Handshakes would fail. Web browsing, as we know it, would be impossible.
Introduction: The Final Connectivity Frontier For the last four decades, the internet has been defined by geography. Whether you are in New York, Tokyo, or a research station in Antarctica, the fundamental assumption of the TCP/IP protocol remains the same: latency is a nuisance, but not an abyss.