The Antarctic Delay Tolerant Network

Abstract

Antarctica is the land of science. Every year, many studies are carried out in diverse disciplines. Some of these studies collect relevant data for their research with sensors. However, the lack of communications technologies in Antarctica hardens the possibility of automating this data collection. In most cases, the collection is done manually, limiting the time and space scopes of research projects. Over the last years, some alternatives have been studied to deploy remote wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in Antarctica. Near-vertical incidence skywave (NVIS) communications are an example of these alternatives. However, NVIS presents problems that can not guarantee persistent end-to-end connectivity. For this reason, in this paper, we assess the adaptation of a Delay Tolerant Network (DTN) protocol, the Bundle Protocol, to deliver sensor data reliably through an NVIS network. The scenario is developed and tested in the Riverbed Modeler simulator, and the performance is evaluated through a trustworthiness model.