MANET Design Assistant Tool (MDAT)

To optimize the effective performance of a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) for a mission, i.e., its mission performance effectiveness (MPE), a network planner has to make a judicious selection of several network design parameters. This task is well beyond the capability of even a subject matter expert in network protocols. What is needed therefore is an automated tool that will assist the network planner in selecting the values of the MANET design parameters that will optimize the MPE of the network for a specified mission environment. Since no such tool currently exists, a network planner typically employs an ad hoc design methodology relying on the use of default values for protocol parameters. This often results in poor performance of the MANET. To address this capability gap in MANET design tools, this SBIR effort will develop the MANET Design Assistant Tool (MDAT) that will enable a network planner to arrive at a performance optimal design of a MANET for a specified mission operating environment. The Phase I effort will establish the implementation feasibility of MDAT. A pre-production prototype of the tool will be built in a follow-on Phase II effort.