Reliable Deep-Space File Transfers: How Data Transfer Can Be Ensured Within a Single Round-Trip Interval
Jian Jiao, Ruhai Wang, Scott C. Burleigh, Qinglin Xie, Akun Zhuang, Alaa Sabbagh, Kanglian Zhao · IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine · 2017
The challenging problem of mission control and data delivery in deep-space explorations is a typical application scenario of delay-/disruption-tolerant networking (DTN) technology. The development of protocols and efficient data transmission mechanisms for space-vehicle networks and deep-space-vehicle communications is presently underway. In this article, we show how to ensure successful file transfers in deep-space-vehicle communications within a single round-trip interval using a bundle protocol (BP), the main protocol of DTN, despite the high rate of data loss, long signal propagation delay, and highly asymmetric channel rates that characterize deep-space channels. The key concept is anticipatory retransmission: bundles are proactively retransmitted, long before the round-trip interval elapses, based on expected transmission failure rather than detected transmission failure.