Bundle Protocol Over Highly Asymmetric Deep-Space Channels

Bundle protocol (BP) is the main protocol of delay/disruption-tolerant networking which is developed to provide reliable data delivery services in a stressed communications environment. A typical application of BP is for data delivery in a challenging deep-space communication environment. However, little work has been done in analyzing the performance of BP in deep-space communications, especially in presence of highly channel-rate asymmetry. In this paper, we present analytical modeling of the transmission performance of BP over deep-space communication channels characterized by highly asymmetric channel rates. The model is built to estimate the expected file delivery time (and goodput) of the protocol for reliable data delivery in a deep-space transmission scenario. The model is validated by conducting data transfer experiments using a PC-based experimental test bed.