On the Performance Analysis of Disruption Tolerant Satellite Networks under Uncertainties

Collaborative Earth observation satellite constellations are arising as a new paradigm with important advantages in comparison with traditional monolithic systems. In this context, Disruptions Tolerant Networking (DTN) protocols were proposed to provide efficient and autonomous store-carry-and-forward data transport. Although a scheduled contact plan can be used to optimize routing and data delivery metrics, significant challenges remain in studying the ability to recover from unplanned events. In this work we analyze, by means of simulation, the sensitivity of state-of-the-art DTN routing algorithms towards transient faults occurring both in random and critical points in the satellite network. Obtained results provide enough evidence that the a priori knowledge of the faults rate of DTN nodes can be used to further improve data delivery, which motivates future enhancements in the existing routing solutions.