COAT: A Protocol for Control Oriented Adaptive Transport

We shall investigate, design and demonstrate an adaptive protocol called COAT (Control Oriented Adaptive Transport). In contrast with static and linear protocols such as TCP, COAT will be designed to be control-oriented and situation specific. COAT will therefore be applicable to widely varying network and application conditions commonly encountered in DoD On-The-Move (OTM) networks. COAT assembles data plane and transmission control plane micro-protocols into a coherent stack, while preserving binary application compatibility with existing applications as well as offering a strategy for communication compatibility with legacy nodes. COAT incorporates network sensors which sense and characterize the network state in terms of key control variables, which are then used to control COAT data plane and transmission control plane micro-protocols. COAT architecture also allows the inclusion of application utility oriented sensing and control for mixed mode application class support. In Phase 1, we will demonstrate COAT benefits over TCP by using an emulation test bed of DoD airborne links commonly employed in a Joint Forces experiment. Our team incorporates a wide variety of skills including the networking technology expertise, entrepreneurial track record, standards development and DoD transition of emergent technology.