The Delay-/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) Architecture describes a composition of services and protocols which are necessary for data exchange in challenged networks. In contrast to the protocols of the TCP/IP stack, which require a stable end-to-end connection between the peers, network nodes in DTN can exchange data even without this prerequisite through mechanisms such as store and forward, custody transfer, and late binding.
The main component of the DTN architecture is the Bundle Protocol, which establishes an overlay network agnostically from the underlying layers. A generic interface, called a Convergence Layer Adapter, enables the Bundle Protocol to connect heterogeneous networks.
With μD3TN (formerly μPCN) we have published the world's first implementation of the Bundle Protocol Version 7, which can also be used on microcontrollers in addition to POSIX-based systems due to its lean and hardware-near programming.
To make it easy and painless for users to participate in DTNs, μD3TN provides an interface that allows sending and receiving messages to and from DTN nodes through a simple Application Agent Protocol (AAP).