O-SPIN: An opportunistic data dissemination protocol for folk-enabled information system in least developed countries

Abstract

Without universal access to the Internet, Least Developed Countries are left by the wayside of the digital revolution. Research is underway to overstep the barrier to the development of information technology services in these areas. In this context, the Folk-IS (Folk-enabled Information System) is a new fully decentralized and participatory approach, in which, each individual can transparently perform data management and networking tasks through highly secure, portable, and low-cost storage and computing personal devices, as physically moving, so that global services can finally be delivered by crowd. In this paper, we propose Opportunistic SPIN (O-SPIN), an information dissemination protocol that augments the well-known data-centric energy-aware SPIN (Sensor Protocols for Information via Negotiation) protocol to enable networking facilities for Folk-nodes, by exploiting opportunistic contacts among users. Performance of the proposed solution has been evaluated through simulations carried out in the OMNeT++ framework under different settings. Achieved results demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency in the information dissemination process. © 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland.