A novel energy-efficient routing protocol for delay-tolerant networks

Abstract

In delay­-tolerant networks (DTN), energy-­efficient node operation is vital due to battery life constraints. Energy consumption significantly impacts data forwarding, necessitating novel energy­-efficient routing protocols. We begin by comparing the performance of several protocols, including CASPaR, Direct Delivery, Epidemic, Spray­and­Wait, and PRoPHETv2, using the Opportunistic Network Environment (ONE) simulator. Our findings demonstrate the superiority of CASPaR in terms of message delivery and latency. To further optimize energy usage, we propose EECASPaR, a combination of a threshold algorithm with CASPaR. EECASPaR is a single­-copy, congestion­avoidance, energy­-efficient protocol suitable for energy­-constrained applications, promoting sustainable communication. This protocol considers the remaining node energy to make informed decisions regarding message acceptance or forwarding to neighbor nodes. Through extensive simulations with varying energy thresholds, our results confirm that EECASPaR enhances remaining node energy and reduces the occurrence of dead nodes.