Delay-Tolerant Networking Superseding Bundle Extension Block
R. Edell, Keith Scott, Susan Symington, R.C. Durst, S. C. Parikh · 2011
This document defines an optional Bundle Protocol block called the Superseding Bundle Extension Block (SBEB) for use with the Bundle Protocol in the context of the Delay-Tolerant Networking Architecture. Applications use this block to call for the removal of previously sent bundles that are rendered obsolete by more recent bundles. Upon receiving a bundle with an SBEB, a node will search its bundle store (and outbound queues) for bundles that are obsoleted by other related bundles according to their source and destination EID, and the SBEB cookie (if present), and may delete some or all of them. Discarding obsolete bundles helps conserve storage space and prevents expending resources in further forwarding bundles that are no longer relevant. The bundle protocol already uses expiration times to remove bundles that are no longer useful to applications. The SBEB is a way for applications to mark bundles that a node may delete prior to their expiration times.