End-to-End Delay Bound for Prioritized Data Flows in Disruption-Tolerant Networks

This paper computes end-to-end delay bounds for prioritized data flows in disruption-tolerant networks (DTNs). DTNs suffer intermittent connectivity among nodes due to node mobility. When deployed in mission-critical applications, such as disaster response, an interesting question becomes to quantify end-to-end packet delays under assumptions on node mobility. In this paper, we answer this question for the special case of DTNs with recurrent mobility patterns. A recurrent pattern refers to one where nodes revisit the same locations repeatedly. We devise a suitable model for recurrent DTNs that captures their timing and mobility properties. We then apply the recently proposed delay composition algebra to the resulting network model in order to determine an upper bound on end-to-end communication delays of network flows. Evaluation results show that the upper bound is moderate in its pessimism and can be used for deployment planning purposes.