Adaptive Resource Management Solution for Ad-Hoc Opportunistic Networks

Abstract

Opportunistic network (OppNet) is described as one of the most challenging network models, since contact between nodes is intermittent. In OppNet, an end-to-end path between the source and the destination does not exist because of nodes mobility. Therefore, relay nodes store then transmit the packets whenever a connection is available. Thus, store-carry-forward is the technique that allows OppNet to deliver messages from source to destination. One of the main drawbacks of this technique is the buffer congestion. Due to the unavailability of continuous connection between nodes, the message might stay in buffer’s nodes for a long period without being transmitted, which will lead to buffer overload. Several routing algorithms have been studied in order to manage the buffer’s nodes. In this paper, a novel adaptive buffer management policy that takes into consideration the limited network resources such as energy and bandwidth is proposed. The new solution relying on three policies; blacklisting, scheduling and dropping is capable to adapt with the modification of several network parameters such as message size, node capacity and network density. The simulation results show that the proposed solution improves the performance of OppNet by increasing the delivery rate and decreasing the network resource consumption.