Analytical evaluation of the performance of contact-based messaging applications

Abstract

Communications in mobile opportunistic networks, instead of using the Internet infrastructure, take place upon the establishment of ephemeral contacts among mobile nodes using direct communication. In this paper, we analytically model the performance of mobile opportunistic networks for contact-based messaging applications in city squares or gathering points, a key challenging topic that is required for the effective design of novel services. We take into account several social aspects such as: the density of people, the dynamic of people arriving and leaving a place, the size of the messages and the duration of the contacts. We base our models on Population Processes, an approach commonly used to represent the dynamics of biological populations. We study their stable equilibrium points and obtain analytical expressions for their resolution. The evaluations performed show that these models can reproduce the dynamics of message diffusion applications. We demonstrate that when the density of people increases, the effectiveness of the diffusion is improved. Regarding the arrival and departure of people, their impact is more relevant when the density of people is low. Finally, we prove that for large message sizes the effectiveness of the epidemic diffusion is reduced, and novel diffusion protocols should be considered. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.