A "Plug-and-Play' Framework to Enhance Heterogeneity and Versatility in Delay Tolerant Networks

In Delay Tolerant Networks (DTN), the presence of additional multiple network access interfaces for nodes is beneficial when overcoming intermittent connectivity as well as interoperability issues in heterogeneous network access technologies. We propose a framework that is versatile enough to practically handle any type of network access for DTN node. Our framework allows the expansion of a DTN node’s access capability via node cascading, and/or connection to multiple subnets of different access technologies, and establishing multiple parallel links between two DTN nodes using multiple network access interfaces. The versatility derived from our framework is crucial in operational scenarios, providing users various ways to reconnect to the network.