English

Scale-Free Opportunistic Networks: is it Possible?

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing 2016-11-17 v2 Networking and Internet Architecture

Abstract

The coupling of scale-free networks with mobile unstructured networks is certainly unusual. In mobile networks, connections active at a given instant are constrained by the geographical distribution of mobile nodes, and by the limited signal strength of the wireless technology employed to build the ad-hoc overlay. This is in contrast with the presence of hubs, typical of scale-free nets. However, opportunistic (mobile) networks possess the distinctive feature to be delay tolerant; mobile nodes implement a store, carry and forward strategy that permits to disseminate data based on a multi-hop route, which is built in time, when nodes encounter other ones while moving. In this paper, we consider opportunistic networks as evolving graphs where links represent contacts among nodes arising during a (non-instantaneous) time interval. We discuss a strategy to control the way nodes manage contacts and build "opportunistic overlays". Based on such an approach, interesting overlays can be obtained, shaped following given desired topologies, such as scale-free ones.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1107.1937,
  title  = {Scale-Free Opportunistic Networks: is it Possible?},
  author = {Stefano Ferretti and Vittorio Ghini},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1107.1937},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

A revised version of the paper will appear in Proc. of the 8th International Workshop on Mobile Peer-to-Peer Computing - IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PERCOM 2012), Lugano, Switzerland, IEEE, March 2012

R2 v1 2026-06-21T18:34:46.989Z