Vehicular ad hoc networks, deep-space interplanetary networks, sparse sensor
networks, underwater networks, and mobile social networks are wireless
networks that greatly benefit from DTN. Primarily, these networks are not connected, hence
routing techniques that rely on the end-to-end path, such as dynamic source routing (DSR)
or ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) cannot be utilized [10]. For successful data
transmission in the network, cooperation between nodes is required.
Applications include environmental monitoring, health monitoring and industrial processes monitoring.
The primary obstacle faced by DTNs is the scarcity of energy resources, which restricts
nodes to local area connections, hence preventing continuous streaming of data to a base
station.
Within the Epidemic protocol, nodes distribute copies of messages to all encountered nodes
without any awareness of the network. The encountered nodes store the messages in their
buffer using the store-carry-forward approach until they encounter another node or reach the
destination. The collection of messages kept in the buffer of a node is referred to as the
summary vector. When two nodes meet, they exchange their summary vectors and compare
them to determine which new messages should be downloaded from the node they
encountered.
While the Epidemic protocol has a high likelihood of successfully delivering messages, it also
incurs significant cost owing to the replication of messages in the network. This replication
can lead to network congestion. In addition, the dissemination of numerous messages in the
network by this method would result in significant resource consumption, including power,
bandwidth, and buffer space.