Information propagation speed in delay tolerant networks : analytic upper bounds

Delay/disruption tolerant networks (DTNs) or intermittently connected mobile networks (ICNs) are mobile ad hoc networks where end-to-end multi-hop paths may not exist and communication routes may only be available through time and mobility. While most of the research is dedicated to the design of routing protocols, very few properties of such networks are known. In a recent paper [6], the authors provided analytical upper bounds for the information propagation speed in DTNs when they are modeled as two-dimensional Unit Disk Graphs. In this paper, we extend this study to other models by using analytical tools to derive theoretical upper-bounds of the information propagation speed. Firstly, we will present results for DTNs mapped in a space of dimension D, where D varies from 1 to 3. Secondly, we will depart from the Unit Disk Graph model to consider a more realistic model where a node captures a packet sent at distance r with probability p(r).5 page(s