DTN Performance in Complex Deep-Space Networks

The Delay-lDisruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) architecture has long been analyzed in terms of the Bundle Protocol (BP) and the Licklider Transmission Protocols (LTP) performance, when used in deep space environments. The research conducted so far focused mostly on the performance of specific protocols under simplified network conditions, thus missing some key aspects of real space communication operations. This paper tries to bridge this gap by providing a more exhaustive analysis of DTN performance in deep-space environments, and considers the interaction between routing and the overall data delivery delay achieved by thejoint use of the BP and LTP protocols. An extensive experiment campaign has been performed on a virtualized testbed based on ION software to collect results in complex scenarios and translate them into significant observations about space operations.