Which DTN CLP is best for long-delay cislunar communications with channel-rate asymmetry?

Abstract

Delay-/disruption-tolerant networking is considered one of the most suitable technologies to handle the delays and disconnection inherent in space internetworking. To date, little work has been done in evaluating its effectiveness in cislunar communications involving long link delay and highly asymmetric channel rates. In this article, we present an experimental study of DTN convergence layer protocols over a typical cislunar communication infrastructure accompanied by a very long link delay, various asymmetric channel rates, and varying data loss rate. The intent of the work was to find answers to two questions: which CLP is the best for long-delay cislunar communications in the presence of highly asymmetric channel rates, and whether aggregation of bundle protocol bundles is helpful for improving goodput of DTN in the presence of IPN channel asymmetry.