DataSpace is a three dimensional physical space 100 kilometers above and 10 kilometers below the surface of earth that is accessible to the network. It is addressed geographically as opposed to the current ``logical'' addressing scheme of the Internet. With the enormous 128 bit addressing space of IPv6, one can individually address every cubic centimeter of the physical space in DataSpace with approximately 90 bits of area code. This would include every street, building, room, basement or even drawer of a desk. The DataSpace would thus serve as the host for the entire part of the physical world that is connected to the network. The DataSpace is populated by a massive number of objects that produce and locally store data about themselves. In the DataSpace, physical objects are no longer characterized just by shape, size, and color. They are also characterized by processor type, the amount of memory and the network connection. To support the DataSpace, we propose a version of the multicast protocol called ``spacecast''. Here, the network plays the role of a Database machine, handling queries through spacecast which ``illuminate'' selected datacubes and gather multiple responses from the objects that respond to the query. Just as the physical space around us is illuminated with different types of radiation that selected sets of objects reflect¹, one can imagine the physical space illuminated by its response to a network request placed by a user. A request placed to the object may ask for retrieval of data or the completion of a task. Through such a network-mediated illumination of the physical world, one can experience and control billions of objects in one's immediate or remote environment. 

DataSpace is spatial and embedded in the physical reality which all of us are used to. Here, the ``local area network'' is replaced by a room, a street, or the top of a mountain, depending on where the user is located. The concept of a DataSpace is in contrast to that of a database. Databases store information locally about remote physical objects. In this scheme, the physical objects become merely the artifacts of their corresponding entry in a database. In the DataSpace, the data is stored locally in objects, and becomes a property when queried (or ``illuminated''). The organization of the DataSpace is geographic as opposed to the current logical structure of the Internet. In this way, DataSpace is structured analogously to the real physical space which surrounds us.

¹ most of our environment reflects visible light, bones reflect X-ray radiation, tissues resonate in magnetic fields

References:

• Tomasz Imielinski and Samir Goel, DataSpace - querying and monitoring deeply networked collections in physical space, IEEE Personal Communications Magazine, Special Issue on "Networking the Physical World", October 2000.

• Tomasz Imielinski and Samir Goel, DataSpace - querying and monitoring deeply networked collections in physical space, Proceedings of International Workshop on Data Engineering for Wireless and Mobile Access (MobiDE'99), Seattle, Washington, August 20, 1999.

• Tomasz Imielinski and Samir Goel, DataSpace - querying and monitoring deeply networked collections in physical space, Part-I Concepts and Architecture, Technical Report DCS-TR-381, Department of Computer Science, Rutgers University, October, 1999. [gzipped postscript][PDF]
  

• Samir Goel and Tomasz Imielinski, DataSpace - querying and monitoring deeply networked collections in physical space, Part-II Protocol Details, Technical Report DCS-TR-400, Department of Computer Science, Rutgers University, October, 1999. [gzipped postscript][PDF]