Delay-Tolerant Networking TCP Convergence-Layer Protocol

Abstract

This document describes the protocol for the TCP-based convergence layer for Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN). It is the product of the IRTF's DTN Research Group (DTNRG).

Assessing Contact Graph Routing Performance and Reliability in Distributed Satellite Constellations

“…In particular, routes with the latest transmission time ( ) in the past, an arrival time later than the bundle deadline, a capacity less than the bundle size, and a proximate node within the excluded nodes, or that require a local outbound queue that is depleted, are ignored. Remaining routes are then considered suitable, and the corresponding proximate node in the list is either replaced by a better route (Algorithm 2, lines (15) to (24)) or directly added to the list (Algorithm 2, lines (26) and (27)). The replacement criteria is coherent with Algorithm 1: best arrival time is considered first and then route hop count.…”

“…After clearing the working area (Algorithm 3, lines (35) to (38)), a new search is executed, now with the limiting contact detached from the contact graph. As soon as the first route without the anchor contact as the first contact is found, the anchored search ends suppressing the anchor contact and the normal search continues (Algorithm 3, lines (15) to (24)). The search ends when no more routes can be found in the contact graph.…”

“…During the last decade, the DTN Bundle protocol, along with different adaptation layers, has been proposed [14][15][16][17][18][19], several routing strategies were studied [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30], and diverse software stacks were publicly released [31][32][33][34][35]. Furthermore, some of the latter approaches were successfully validated both on LEO [36] and Deep Space missions [37] driven by the UK Space Agency and NASA, respectively.…”

DTN Protocols for Vehicular Networks: An Application Oriented Overview

“…The convergence layer allows for any set of lower protocols to be used to reliably transfer a bundle between two DTN nodes. For example the TCP/IP convergence layer [22] uses a TCP connection between two DTN nodes to transfer bundles. That TCP connection can be established via the Internet.…”

Enhancing Opportunistic Networks with Legacy Nodes

“…It is responsible for discovering nearby nodes, opening communication links, and implementing store-carry-forward networking that enables the asynchronous multi-hop messaging service between nodes. The implementation follows the DTNRG networking architecture and protocol specifications [3,22,4] with some extensions. The communication services offered to applications include unicast messaging, publish/subscribe services, and probabilistic geo-tagged content sharing (Floating Content [10]).…”