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Topic · Computer Networks and Communications

Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks

Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks is a research topic within Computer Networks and Communications. Science Explorer counts 33k research works in it since 1957. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on delay-tolerant networking in mobile ad hoc networks, exploring topics such as opportunistic routing, social network analysis, epidemic routing, dynamic networks, mobility models, resource allocation, and disruption-tolerant networks. The research addresses challenges and opportunities in communication protocols for intermittently connected environments.

  • Delay-Tolerant Networks
  • Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
  • Opportunistic Routing
  • Social Network Analysis
  • Epidemic Routing
  • Dynamic Networks
  • Mobility Models
  • Resource Allocation
  • Disruption-Tolerant Networks
  • Community-Based Routing
Research works
33k
fractional, since 1957
In the world top 10%
3.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-24%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
41% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks

Which countries lead Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (1.4k and 705 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.4k works
  2. 2 India 705 works
  3. 3 United States 498 works
  4. 4 Japan 161 works
  5. 5 Germany 127 works
  6. 6 South Korea 121 works
  7. 7 United Kingdom 118 works
  8. 8 Italy 114 works
  9. 9 Canada 94 works
  10. 10 France 93 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 41.1%India: 20.5%United States: 14.4%Japan: 4.7%6 others listed: 19.3%41%largest
China1,414 · 41.1%India705 · 20.5%United States498 · 14.4%Japan161 · 4.7%6 others listed666 · 19.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks research?

By volume in 2022-now, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications publishes the most Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and National University of Defense Technology.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Beijing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsChina 75 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 44 works
  3. 3 National University of Defense TechnologyChina 33 works
  4. 4 Xidian UniversityChina 31 works
  5. 5 Tsinghua UniversityChina 31 works
  6. 6 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 27 works
  7. 7 SRM Institute of Science and TechnologyIndia 23 works
  8. 8 University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 23 works
  9. 9 Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 22 works
  10. 10 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 22 works

Who are the leading researchers in Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks include Simon Iain Hay, Albert-Ĺaszló Barabási and Harry Eugene Stanley.

  1. 1 Simon Iain Hay United States 452k citations
  2. 2 Albert-Ĺaszló Barabási United States 223k citations
  3. 3 Harry Eugene Stanley United States 198k citations
  4. 4 H. Vincent Poor United States 165k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks?

The most cited paper in Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks is "Consensus Problems in Networks of Agents With Switching Topology and Time-Delays" (Reza Olfati‐Saber, Richard M. Murray, 2004), with 12,915 citations. Next come "An application-specific protocol architecture for wireless microsensor networks" (10,610) and "Ad-hoc on-demand distance vector routing" (10,342).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Consensus Problems in Networks of Agents With Switching Topology and Time-Delays Reza Olfati‐Saber, Richard M. Murray · IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control Sep 2004 12,915
2 An application-specific protocol architecture for wireless microsensor networks Wendi Heinzelman, Anantha P. Chandrakasan, Hari Balakrishnan · IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications Oct 2002 10,610
3 Ad-hoc on-demand distance vector routing Charles E. Perkins, E.M. Royer Conference paper 1999 10,342
4 Chord Ion Gabriel Stoica, Robert Morris, David R. Karger et al. Conference paper 27 Aug 2001 9,673
5 Dynamic Source Routing in Ad Hoc Wireless Networks David B. Johnson, David A. Maltz Book chapter 25 Aug 2007 8,548
All 98 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks research done?

The largest centres of Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Nanjing (China), Xi'an (China) and Shanghai (China).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 355 works
  2. 2 NanjingChina 112 works
  3. 3 Xi'anChina 92 works
  4. 4 ShanghaiChina 83 works
  5. 5 ChennaiIndia 73 works
  6. 6 ChangshaChina 67 works
  7. 7 TokyoJapan 58 works
  8. 8 SeoulSouth Korea 53 works
  9. 9 WuhanChina 49 works
  10. 10 GuangzhouChina 46 works
See Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks on the map

Where is the best place to study Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks?

Among universities, judged by research, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Tsinghua University and Nanyang Technological University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 23.33%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Nanyang Technologica…Tsinghua UniversitySingapore University…King Abdullah Univer…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Singapore University of Technology and DesignSingapore 68.925.7%23.2×9 +49.9%
2Tsinghua UniversityChina 60.529.8%3.3×30 -15.5%
3Nanyang Technological UniversitySingapore 60.438.8%3.0×10 -7.4%
4King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologySaudi Arabia 60.121.5%7.6×9 +96.3%
5Beijing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsChina 58.114.5%28.8×75 -23.3%
6University of LuxembourgLuxembourg 55.524.4%9.9×10 +5.5%
7Xidian UniversityChina 54.518.6%10.4×30 -20.5%
8University of Maryland, College ParkUnited States 53.627.4%3.6×8 +216.2%
9Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 51.016.0%4.6×22 +25.8%
10Southeast UniversityChina 48.716.6%3.5×21 -0.7%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks, country by country

Is Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 24% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2012.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.018% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks0.018% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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