ITR: Message Ferrying: Mobility-Assisted Data Delivery in Highly Partitioned Networks

移动自组织网络是在很少或没有预装基础设施的环境中实现快速部署通信能力的重要组成部分。应用范围从战场场景到应对自然和人为灾害。在这种情况下，通信能力，即使是低速率，对于协调工作和共享重要信息是非常有价值的。大多数自组织网络路由和数据转发算法都是为始终连接的网络设计的。虽然保持一个连接的网络当然是可取的，但各种情况可能导致移动自组织网络被分区，这意味着在一些（或全部）源/目标节点对之间没有单跳或多跳路由。节点的移动性、有限的无线电范围、物理障碍、恶劣天气、广泛的部署区域或其他物理因素可能会使一些节点无法与其他节点通信，从而导致网络分区。网络分区的存在需要一种新的方法，而不是当前大多数自组织路由算法中使用的传统“存储并转发”路由范式，在这种范式中，如果没有找到到达目的地的路由，则丢弃消息。相反，设备应该能够缓冲和携带消息，直到它有机会转发它们。该项目的重点是开发一种新颖的“消息传送”（MF）方案，该方案的灵感来自于现实生活中的模拟，实现了这种“存储、携带和转发”路由范式。MF方案的主要思想是在节点的运动中引入非随机性，并利用这种非随机性来帮助传递数据。MF方案通过使用一组称为消息轮渡的移动节点来克服移动自组织网络中的分区问题。这些节点根据已知路由在部署区域内移动，并与遇到的其他节点通信，负责在断开连接的节点之间传递消息。通过使用渡轮作为中继，节点可以与断开连接的其他节点进行异步通信。提议的工作将包括三个主要部分：-开发基本架构、算法和协议，导致消息传递系统的成功设计；-构建系统原型，以提供对构建和部署消息传递系统挑战的现实理解；以及-与正在进行的两种情况的调查相连接，其中消息传递可以发挥重要作用。这项工作是第一个深入研究使用非随机节点移动性来协助在分区网络中提供数据连接的工作。在这种不可避免的情况下，这将增强移动自组织网络的可用性。它还可能导致系统的开发（例如，在大学校园中），其中消息传递被用作低成本的基层消息传递解决方案。我们还致力于促进拟议工作产生更广泛影响的活动，包括基于我们的研究生和本科生研究开发模块，继续强调在我们的研究工作中纳入代表性不足的群体，并向亚特兰大的历史悠久的黑人学院和大学开展推广活动。

Mobile ad hoc networks form a vital component in realizing the vision of rapidly deployed communications capability in environments with little or no pre installed infrastructure. Applications range from battlefield scenarios to responding to natural and human-made disasters. In these situations the ability to communicate, even at low rates, is extremely valuable for coordinating efforts and sharing vital information. Most ad hoc network routing and data forwarding algorithms are designed for networks that are always connected. While it is certainly desirable to maintain a connected network, various conditions may cause a mobile ad hoc network to become partitioned, meaning that there is no single-hop or multiple-hop route between some (or all) source/destination node pairs. Node mobility, limited radio range, physical obstacles, severe weather, wide deployment area or other physical factors, might preclude some nodes from communicating with others and result in a partitioned network. The existence of network partitioning requires a new approach other than the traditional "store-and-forward" routing paradigm used in most current ad hoc routing algorithms, in which messages are dropped if no route is found to reach a destination. Instead, a device should be able to buffer and carry the messages until it has a chance to forward them. This project focuses on the development of a novel "Message Ferrying" (MF) scheme, inspired by its real life analog, that implements this "store, carry and forward" routing paradigm. The main idea of the MF scheme is to introduce non-randomness in the movement of nodes and exploit such non-randomness to help deliver data. The MF scheme overcomes partitioning in a mobile ad-hoc network by using a set of mobile nodes, called message ferries. These nodes have the responsibility to carrying messages between disconnected nodes by moving around the deployed area according to known routes and communicating with other nodes they meet. By using ferries as relays, nodes can communicate asynchronously with other nodes that are disconnected. The proposed work will consist of three main components:-The development of fundamental architectures, algorithms and protocols leading to successful designs of message ferrying systems,-The construction of system prototypes to provide a realistic understanding of the challenges in building and deploying message ferrying systems, and -Interfacing with on-going investigations of two contexts in which message ferrying can play an important role, namely surface transportation systems and robotic teams This work is among the first to investigate in-depth the use of non-random node mobility to assist in providing data connectivity in a partitioned network. This will have the effect of enhancing the usability of mobile ad hoc networks in contexts where such disconnection is inevitable. It may also lead to the development of systems (e.g., on college campuses) where message ferrying is used as a low-cost, grass roots messaging solution. We are also committed to activities that will promote the broader impact of the proposed work including, the development of modules based on our research for graduate and undergraduate classes, continued emphasis on inclusion of under-represented groups within our research efforts and outreach activities to Atlanta-based historically black colleges and universities.