Study on Dissemination Patterns in Location-Aware Gossiping Networks

We study the properties of information dissemination over location-aware gossiping networks leveraging location-based real-time communication applications. Gossiping is a promising method for quickly disseminating messages in a large-scale system, but in its application to information dissemination for location-aware applications, it is important to consider the network topology and patterns of spatial dissemination over the network in order to achieve effective delivery of messages to potentially interested users. To this end, we propose a continuous-space network model extended from Kleinberg's small-world model applicable to actual location-based applications. Analytical and simulation-based study shows that the proposed network achieves high dissemination efficiency resulting from geographically neutral dissemination patterns as well as selective dissemination to proximate users. We have designed a highly scalable location management method capable of promptly updating the network topology in response to node movement and have implemented a distributed simulator to perform dynamic target pursuit experiments as one example of applications that are the most sensitive to message forwarding delay. The experimental results show that the proposed network surpasses other types of networks in pursuit efficiency and achieves the desirable dissemination patterns.