Impact of Selfish Nodes on the Performance of Delay-Tolerant Routing Protocols in Intermittently Connected Mobile Networks (ICMNs)

Delay-Tolerant Networks (DTNs) enable communication in challenging environments where intermittent connectivity is the norm. However, the presence of selfish nodes, which prioritize their own interests over network performance, can significantly degrade the performance. This paper investigates the impact of selfish nodes on three prominent DTN routing protocols: Epidemic, PRoPHET, and Spray and Wait. Using the Opportunistic Network Environment (ONE) simulator modified to incorporate selfish node behavior, we analyze the performance metrics: delivery probability, average latency, and overhead ratio. Our findings reveal that selfish nodes can significantly degrade network performance, with varying impacts depending on the routing protocol and network parameters. Surprisingly, selfish nodes can, in some cases, lead to a counterintuitive improvement in delivery probability for certain protocols, highlighting the complex interplay between selfishness and routing dynamics in DTNs. This research underscores the need for robust DTN routing protocols that can effectively mitigate the detrimental effects of selfish nodes and ensure reliable communication in challenging environments.