A group of US researchers are looking into the possibilities of building a new version of the internet. They say the architecture in the current version is not up to scratch.
The researchers didn't specify exactly which problems within the current version they hope to combat, but are lobbying the US government to create a new version addressing security, mobility, speed and other challenges.
The internet "works well in many situations but was designed for completely different assumptions," Dipankar Raychaudhuri, a Rutgers University professor overseeing three internet projects, told the AP news agency. "It's sort of a miracle that it continues to work well today."
There are numerous organisations and companies that would want to be involved in discussions on how the future internet should be created; such a project would most likely involve a number of issues.
If a new internet version is developed, it would run alongside the current version - first trialled by UCLA professor Leonard Kleinrock in 1969 - for a limited time period in order to make the transition process as smooth as possible.
It could take up to 15 years to develop a new version of the web, the researchers said. And as large parts of the software and hardware currently used would have to be replaced, it looks like it could also be a very costly affair.
