Connectivity Technologies for the Warfighter Network

This SBIR project is aimed at development, design, prototyping, and demonstration of mobile ad hoc wireless networking (MAWNET) systems, energy efficient, reliable, low-latency and self-healing, networking amongst heterogeneous devices within the IP airborne network (IP-AN) using connectivity technologies for the warfighter. Emphasis will be placed on the special requirements of the IP-AN, including diversity of devices and links, high speed of movement, very low resident time in the network and the vast distances between nodes. Phase I addressed defining wireless networking architectures and initial designs that provide high bandwidth, energy efficient, communication links between disparate wireless networks; specifically the IP-AN; identifying the best two routing algorithms and projected throughput enhancement from their use; and modeling and simulating the performance of the routing algorithms for the IP-AN. The new protocol will support improved power management, better throughput for unicast and multicast communication (by utilizing multiple routes simultaneously), and better reliability. This leads to a preliminary design of prototype systems that enable energy efficient ad-hoc networking amongst heterogeneous devices in the IP-AN including at least one JTRS compliant device. The design will be completed in Phase II, wherein the prototype systems will be developed, and demonstrated.