Disney Research

Abstract

METhoD- a Framework for the Emulation of a Delay Tolerant Network Scenario for Media-Content Distribution in Under-Served Regions-Image

Wireless communication remains to be the most efficient way of providing access to information to users in developing economies. We are interested in Delay-Tolerant Networks (DTNs) for distributing multimedia content to microentrepreneurs in under-served rural areas of South Africa. In our project, public commuter buses carrying WLAN-enabled devices (mobile infostations) that provide DTN connectivity are used to ferry data between urban and rural areas. Before the actual deployment in the field, rigorous lab experiments have been performed to study the performance of the proposed network design. Such an activity is time-consuming and requires arduous preparation. Simulators, while convenient, do not provide the most realistic results. Given the complexity of DTN testing, we try to find a middle ground approach by building a mobility emulator testbed, which we use to emulate the network scenario. In this paper, we outline the design and implementation details of the network emulator. We then describe the experiments that were performed to study the impact of different network dynamics on content delivery, and their results. The results from the experiments are used to improve our current network design.

Copyright Notice

The documents contained in these directories are included by the contributing authors as a means to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work on a non-commercial basis. Copyright and all rights therein are maintained by the authors or by other copyright holders, notwithstanding that they have offered their works here electronically. It is understood that all persons copying this information will adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author’s copyright. These works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.