On Space-Time Capacity Limits in Mobile and Delay Tolerant Networks

We investigate the fundamental capacity limits of space-time journeys of information in mobile and Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs), where information is either transmitted or carried by mobile nodes, using store-carry-forward routing. We define the capacity of a journey (i.e., a path in space and time, from a source to a destination) as the maximum amount of data that can be transferred from the source to the destination in the given journey. Combining a stochastic model (conveying all possible journeys) and an analysis of the durations of the nodes' encounters, we study the properties of journeys that maximize the space-time information propagation capacity, in bit-meters per second. More specifically, we provide theoretical lower and upper bounds on the information propagation speed, as a function of the journey capacity. In the particular case of random waypoint-like models (i.e., when nodes move for a distance of the order of the network domain size before changing direction), ...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: INFOCOM
• Authors: Philippe Jacquet, Bernard Mans, Georgios Rodolakis
• Keywords: Communications, INFOCOM 2010, Information Propagation, Mobile Node, Space-time Information Propagation