Title: Using known vectors to improve data dissemination in opportunistic networks

Authors: Jyh-How Huang; Ying-Yu Chen; Li-Ping Tung; Ling-Jyh Chen

Addresses: Sport Information and Communication Department, National Taiwan University of Physical Education and Sport, Taiwan ' Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan ' Intelligent Information and Communications Research Center, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan ' Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan

Abstract: An opportunistic network is a type of challenged network in which contacts are intermittent, an end-to-end path rarely exists between the source and the destination, disconnection and reconnection are common occurrences, and link performance is highly variable or extreme. Conventional methods of data dissemination in opportunistic networks rely on a meta-message exchange scheme, called the summary vector (SV), to prevent redundant transmission of data bundles that already exist on receivers. We consider that the SV scheme is costly in terms of the data transmission overhead, which is unaffordable in opportunistic networks. Hence, we propose an alternative scheme, called the known vector (KV), to improve the efficiency of meta-message exchanges for data transmission in opportunistic networks. Using a comprehensive set of simulations with realistic network scenarios, we demonstrate that the KV scheme can be easily integrated into existing opportunistic network routing protocols (e.g., Epidemic and PRoPHET routing). Moreover, it can reduce the communication overhead significantly, thereby improving energy efficiency for data transmission in opportunistic networks.

Keywords: opportunistic networks; DTN routing; delay tolerant networks; ad-hoc networks; wireless network routing; wireless networks; known vectors; data dissemination; meta-message exchanges; data transmission; routing protocols; energy efficiency.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAHUC.2014.065158

International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing, 2014 Vol.17 No.1, pp.59 - 69

Received: 13 Sep 2012
Accepted: 18 Jun 2013
Published online: 15 Oct 2014 *

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