Abstract—A packet forwarding protocol based on terminals’ Markov mobility model (TMM) is proposed for coal mine poor connectivity in opportunistic networks since its complex environment. First, a Markov model is established for predicting the probability of terminals’ encounter. Then the network-delay in the condition of next selected relay-terminal (NDT), the probability of terminal encounter with destination (PTD) and the terminal diffusion range (TDR) are calculated based on the model, by which the best relay-terminal can be obtained to receive data packet based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed protocol has a better performance in terms of delay and overhead compared with Flooding and HMPR method, and it’s more suitable for coal mine opportunistic networks.

Index Terms—Packet forwarding protocol; opportunistic networks; Markov model; terminal attribute; coal mine

Cite: Yanfang Zou, Hongyi Yu, Qing Li, Jianhui Liu, and Wei Guo, “A Packet Forwarding Protocol in Coal Mine Opportunistic Networks," Journal of Communications, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 333-339, 2016. Doi: 10.12720/jcm.11.3.333-339