RARANET: A Routing Architecture for Airborne Networks

Due to the characteristics of Airborne Networks (ANs), where end-to-end routes are not always available, current wireless routing technologies cannot be used on them. Similarly, new metrics are required to describe ANs accurately so that routes that use the ANs resources efficiently can be calculated. We propose to develop RARANET, a Routing Architecture for Airborne Networks, which will enable routing to be performed in ANs. It will be a flexible, modular architecture with interchangeable components so that the different Quality-of-Service traffic requirements of varying ANs can be met. We will study the metrics, such as Expected Transmission Count (ETX) or Weighted Cumulative Expected Transmission Time (WCETT), that can be used to describe the specific characteristics of links in ANs. We will also investigate new routing algorithms, such as multi-criteria routing, that utilize one or more of these metrics to meet the Quality-of-Service demands of the AN. Topology control and routing will be performed by Hazy Sighted Link-state (HSLS), a novel routing algorithm that scales with network size. It will also be responsible for disseminating Entity Capability Profiles (ECPs), data structures which contain a detailed description of the nodes' characteristics. It will also use disruption tolerant routing schemes to overcome connectivity issues caused by intermittent links. The routing architecture will be Link-layer agnostic to permit it to work with any technologies that can be found in an AN. BBN Technologies will serve as a subcontractor, providing unique expertise on routing in the wireless environment and support for prototyping in Phase II.