Inter-domain Routing for Tactical Mobile Ad-hoc Networks

We propose and evaluate a routing solution for a large scale tactical inter-domain network containing multiple Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) and fixed networks. The proposed solution uses Open Shortest Path First - MANET Designated Router (OSPF-MDR); which is a modification of OSPFv3 to support MANETs as well as OSPFv3 in the fixed networks. We then propose a new border gateway routing protocol which supports the dynamic split and merger of MANETs, having routing abilities similar to the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). This new protocol, named BGP - MANET Routing (BGP-MR)m, provides effective communication across separate and highly dynamic domains. BGP-MR introduces a dynamic election of gateways and recursive purging of routes from the BGP table as BGP peers are lost due to network mobility. The proposed solution is tested in CORE to show BGP-MR's effectiveness as a gateway protocol in mobile scenarios. Our results demonstrate BGP-MR's ability to provide seamless routing as well as reduced overhead when compared to running BGP in interconnecting highly dynamic MANETs.