A Diagnostic Tool for Ad-Hoc and Delay-Tolerant Networks

Ad-Hoc and Delay-Tolerant Networks (AHDTNs) can be very useful in environments where more traditional networking technologies fail. Determining the practical effectiveness of AHDTNs can however be challenging. We review design considerations and practical experience with a novel mechanism for monitoring and analyzing the performance of AHDTNs. This new mechanism, AllNet Trace, somewhat resembles a combination of ping and traceroute, and can be used for the same purposes as either ping, with or without IP record route, or traceroute. AllNet Trace can be used to obtain information about networks where packets may be forwarded to next-hop destinations more than once, or may be arbitrarily delayed. We describe the design, implementation, and performance of AllNet Trace within the context of the AllNet protocol, which is designed to securely deliver interpersonal data over both AHDTNs and the Internet.