STAR: Storage aware routing protocol for generalized Delay Tolerant Networks

This paper presents a novel storage aware routing (STAR) protocol designed to provide a general networking solution over a broad range of mobile and wireless scenarios. STAR enables routing policies which adapt seamlessly from a well-connected wired network to a disconnected wireless network using a 2-Dl routing metric composed of a short and a long term route cost and storage availability on downstream routers. Temporary in-network storage is preferred over forwarding along a path that is slower than average and opportunistic transmission is encouraged when a faster route becomes available. Results from ns2 based simulations show that STAR achieves 20% higher throughput compared to OLSR under varying link conditions and delivers 20% more files in DTN scenarios. Experimental evaluation of STAR on the ORBIT testbed demonstrates significant performance improvements with 25% higher peak throughput compared to OLSR in a wireless mesh network.