Delay/Disruption-Tolerant Networking (DTN) for Deep Space Networks

Delay tolerant networking (DTN) technology offers a new solution to highly stressed space communication networks, especially to the challenging deep space networks characterized by extremely long link delays and frequent/lengthy link disruptions. DTN has been recognized as the only candidate networking technology that approaches the level of maturity required in deep space networks. This talk presents an overview of the emerging DTN for deep space networks with a focus on DTN architecture and its main protocols—bundle protocol (BP) and Licklider transmission protocol (LTP). BP and LTP are described in details, including their performance modeling and experiment results in presence of very long propagation delay, lengthy link disruption, high data loss and asymmetric channel rates.