Infrastructure-based delay tolerant network communication

The applicability of Delay Tolerant Network (DTN) routing protocols is generally quite restricted to extremely mobile environments. All nodes including terminal hosts and routers are mobile, and there is no infrastructure available. This paper presents the utilization of a scheme that combines multiple DTN regions for infrastructure-based DTN communication. This is achieved through stationary devices with store-and-forward capabilities located at the border between various areas which cover both infrastructure-less and infrastructure-based environments. In this scenario, the nodes' movements are restricted to their region; sources and destinations might be located in different regions. The fixed nodes collect all the messages created by sources and transfer it to the destination nodes in other regions, if within communication range. Therefore, the existence of fixed nodes shall resolve the problem of mapping routes for different regions. In addition, we analyze the influence of diverse network conditions when the mobile nodes move around the network area.