Special Session on
DISRUPTION TOLERANT NETWORKS AND APPLICATIONS
ICWN '05


CALL FOR PAPERS

IMCSE '05


In conjunction with the International Conference on Wireless Networks (ICWN).
ICWN is part of the International Multiconference in Computer Science and
Computer Engineering to be held June 27-30, 2005 in Las Vegas, NV..

Session Overview

Disruption tolerant networks (DTN) are the kind of networks that lack
continuous connectivity. A DTN is often found when the nodes have very
limited communication range, are highly mobile, or are under extreme
environments. Several examples are as follows:

    * A network of PDAs using Bluetooth where for some reasons (e.g.
      mobility, power limit) one PDA is not always able to communicate with
      any others.
    * An inter-planet satellite communication network where satellites may
      only communicate with each other several times a day.
    * A sensor network where sensors are not powerful enough to submit data
      to a collecting server.
    * A military field communication network where nodes (e.g. tanks, soldier
      communication equipments) are subject to being destroyed.


The characteristics of DTNs are very different from the traditional computer
networks (e.g. the Internet) in that the latter have some well-known
assumptions: 1) continuous connectivity, 2) very low packet loss rate, and 3)
reasonably low propagation delay and queueing delay. DTNs do not satisfy all
of the assumptions, and sometimes none. Wireless ad hoc networks bear some
similarities with some types of DTNs since some parts of them may actually
form an ad hoc network. However, wireless ad hoc networks still have those
assumptions. In consequence, the existing protocols will not be able to
handle the data transmission in DTNs. New protocols and algorithms need to be
developed.

Within the overall category of DTN, there are actually several different
types of DTN due to their different characteristics. For instance, in the
example DTNs above, the first example is dramatically different from the
second one. The satellite trajectories are predictable while the movement of
a person may be random. Therefore, for different types of DTNs, different
solutions may need to be proposed.

Under some situations, DTNs may not yield satisfying performance due to the
limitation of environments. However, a good algorithm should be able to
decide whether certain conditions can satisfy certain criteria, and if they
do, form paths to allow "smooth" data transmission.

This session will provide a platform for discussion of various algorithms,
their performance, and the applications that utilize DTNs. The session will
serve as a forum for scientists, leading experts, technical professionals,
and users involved in research and application development of DTN. They will
gather together to discuss the benefits, challenges, risks, and applications
of DTN. At the same time this session is an attempt to bring together those
organizations involved in topics of DTN.

Paper Submissions Authors are invited to submit papers describing in detail
the original contribution on the various current issues involved with social
computing. Each submission should be a maximum of 7-pages in the IEEE
Proceedings format, including a 100 word abstract, and a cover page listing
the name, affiliation, complete address, telephone, e-mail, and facsimile
information for the corresponding author. Contributions will be reviewed by
at least three reviewers from both Program Committee and external reviewers
for originality, significance, clarity, soundness, relevance and technical
contents on basis of papers.

Electronic submission of papers is strongly encouraged (pdf, postscript, or
MS Word). Authors can submit their papers via email to lij@scs.howard.edu or
blegand@scs.howard.edu. Deadline for submission is Feb. 26, 2005. If
electronic submission is not possible, the paper can be submitted via regular
mail to :

      Dr. Jiang Li, or Dr. L. Burge III
      Department of Systems and Computer Science
      B36-A Mackey Bldg.
      Howard University
      Washington, DC 20059, USA

The Proceedings will be published by CSREA Press (ISBN) in hardcopy/book. The
proceedings will be available at the conference. In addition to the hardcopy,
it is also planned to publish the papers on a CD. All conference proceedings
published by CSREA Press are considered for inclusion in major database
indexes that are designed to provide easy access to the current literature of
the sciences (database examples: ISI Thomson Scientific, IEE INSPEC, ...). A
special issue of the International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing
(IJWMC) is being planned consisting of selected papers from ICWN (not just
this special session).

- Papers due: Feb. 16, 2005
- Notification of Acceptance: March 21, 2005
- Camera-Ready Paper Due: April 20, 2005


For more information, send an email to one of two session organizers,
L. Burge: blegand@scs.howard.edu, or Jiang Li: lij@scs.howard.edu

Topics of Interest include, but not limited to the following:
-  Routing Algorithms
-  Packet Storage and Forwarding
-  Congestion and Flow Control
-  Interoperability of Proprietary Networking Protocols
-  Security
-  Middleware Technology
-  Application of DTN
-  Performance and Modeling
-  Simulation

Call for Reviewers:
The Special Session is in need of reviewers that are knowledgeable in the
field.We plan to send a list of abstracts to each reviewer to select some
papers to review. If you are willing to review some number of papers,
(preferably between two and four, but any number will do!), please send a
note to lij@scs.howard.edu or blegand@scs.howard.edu. The deadline for
reviewers is early January 31, 2005.