Extending OLSRv2 for tactical applications

Abstract

In this paper, we present novel approaches to routing in tactical networks. We combine recent advances in OLSR development regarding modularization, scalability, extensibility, and metrics with a node architecture concept based on radio and router separation adopted to tactical networks. This node architecture consists of a single router with several external radios acting as wireless bridges and connecting to the router via standard Ethernet. Furthermore, we propose the use of our Directional Airtime (DAT) routing metric that is suitable for the heterogeneous link characteristics often found in tactical networks. In addition, we present some enhanced features unique to our implementation that include means to increase the self-configuration capabilities in IPv4, IPv6, and dual-stack configurations. For the protocol evaluation we used a physical testbed consisting of over 20 nodes implementing our tactical node design. We propose the use of this architecture in tactical networks in order to improve route selection, increase scalability and simplify network administration.