Data distribution mechanism over opportunistic networks with limited epidemic

Most of data distribution mechanism in Opportunistic Networks is derived by Epidemic data distribution, and Epidemic data distribution means that when each node meets another node, it may copy its own messages and transfer to another node. On the one hand, the copies improve the forwarding rate, and reduce the transmission delay. However, on the other hand, energy consumption increases and network survival time is reduced because the copies consume transmission resource. Therefore, copy number should be under control. In this paper, we first introduce the existing routing strategy based on Epidemic briefly, and present the Epidemic routing protocol analysis model and copy control mechanism based on the limited Epidemic in Opportunistic Networks. Then based on the limited copies scheme (LCS), we propose an energy balance scheme (EBS), the results show that EBS can improve the network survival time.