Using group structures for efficient routing in delay tolerant networks

In this paper, we propose a routing protocol for disconnected ad hoc networks where most nodes tend to move about in groups. The proposed protocol works by identifying groups using an efficient distributed group membership protocol, and then routing at the group level, rather than at the node level, The protocol is designed so that existing concepts of routing in disconnected ad hoc networks can be extended to work at the group level. It also uses a controlled replication scheme to improve the delivery ratio. Detailed simulations are done across a broad spectrum of parameters. The results suggest that the proposed protocol performs better in terms of delivery ratio and latency over some other protocols for disconnected networks. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.