DTNbox: a DTN Application for Peer-to-Peer Directory Synchronization

Abstract

This paper aims to present DTNbox, an application for peer-to-peer directory synchronization between DTN nodes, suitable for challenged networks. By contrast to similar applications, DTNbox neither relies on a server node on Internet, which would be impractical in challenged networks, nor is restricted to direct pairing of devices, as in Bluetooth. To cope with possible link disruptions and long delays typical of challenged networks, DTNbox uses the Bundle Protocol (BP), running on top of other ordinary Transport protocols, such as TCP. In order to be compatible with all three major BP implementations, ION, DTN2 and IBR-DTN, DTNbox is built on top of an interface, called Abstraction Layer, which decouples the application from the specific BP implementation in use. DTNbox rationale, design and potential uses are fully described in the paper.