Improving Bundle Routing in a Space DTN by Approximating the Transmission Time of the Reliable LTP

Because the operation of space networks is carefully planned, it is possible to predict future contact opportunities from link budget analysis using the anticipated positions of the nodes over time. In the standard approach to space delay-tolerant networking (DTN), such knowledge is used by contact graph routing (CGR) to decide the paths for data bundles. However, the computation assumes nearly ideal channel conditions, disregarding the impact of the convergence layer retransmissions (e.g., as implemented by the Licklider transmission protocol (LTP)). In this paper, the effect of the bundle forwarding time estimation (i.e., the link service time) to routing optimality is analyzed, and an accurate expression for lossy channels is discussed. The analysis is performed first from a general and protocol-agnostic perspective, assuming knowledge of the statistical properties and general features of the contact opportunities. Then, a practical case is studied using the standard space DTN protocol, evaluating the performance improvement of CGR under the proposed forwarding time estimation. The results of this study provide insight into the optimal routing problem for a space DTN and a suggested improvement to the current routing standard.