DTN-based Content Storage and Retrieval

Delay-tolerant networking (DTN) enables nodes to communicate by means of asynchronous messaging witout the need for an end-to-end path. Suitably designed application protocols may operate in DTNs by minimizing end-to-end interactions and using self-contained messages for communication. The store-carry-and-forward operation and message replication of many DTN routing protocols may yield multiple copies of messages spread across many nodes for an axtended period of time. We leverage these properties for application support in (mobile) intermediate DTN nodes which act as ad-hoc routers. We add explicit application hints to messages that are visible to each node, allowing them, e.g., to cache content, act as distributed storage, or perform application-specific forwarding.