"The Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN) protocol emerged from work first started in 1998 in partnership with Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The initial goal was to modify the ubiquitous Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to facilitate robust communications between celestial bodies and satellites. … TCP assumes a continuous (and fairly reliable) connection. DTN makes no such assumptions, requiring each node to buffer all of its packets until a stable connection can be established. … Given the latency of space communications and the minimal power restrictions placed upon satellites, DTNs approach seems prudent. … most people don't have a need for regular satellite communication … but Cerf sees his robust protocol having more down-to-Earth applications. Mobile networks, for example, must regularly cope with long periods of delay or loss … Perhaps looking to gain an edge on its competitors, Google has already integrated DTN into Android's networking stack." - David Smith