Application of Linear Network Coding in Delay Tolerant networks

In this paper, we study the application of Linear Network Coding to routing in sparse networks, where the average number of neighbors of a node is less than one. Routing in such networks is facilitated by mobility of the nodes, which create sporadic connections in the network. Due to the long end-to-end packet delivery delays, such networks can support only Delay Tolerant applications. Techniques such as Epidemic Routing are then used to reduce the packet delivery delay. However, when the nodes are equipped with limited storage, the effectiveness of Epidemic Routing partially vanishes and the reliability of packet delivery is reduced. We show that through the use of Linear Network Coding, the probability of packet delivery can be improved for certain region of the network operation. We derive a mathematical model for the condition of this improvement and we confirm our results through simulations.