Predicting peer interactions for opportunistic information dissemination protocols

Tactical edge networks provide one of the most challenging environments for communications, which significantly complicates the development of efficient and robust information dissemination solutions. In our previous work, we found that exploiting highly mobile nodes, such as Unmanned Air Vehicles, with cyclic mobility patterns, as message ferries can significantly improve the performance of information dissemination solutions. However, our experience demonstrated that robust forecasting mechanisms are essential in order to withstand frequent changes in the mobility patterns of message ferrying nodes. This paper presents an extension of the adaptive node presence forecasting component developed for DisService, a Peer-to-peer information dissemination system, that provides estimates of tolerance and accuracy of node mobility forecasts. We tested the extended forecasting mechanism in a simulation environment and found that it can lead to significant improvements in the timeliness and reliability of information dissemination.