Adaptable Packet-Switched, Battle Command Information

True end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) support for DoD applications requires the integrated use of various protocols and services. Some of the necessary tools include policy management that distributes QoS policy to the network links/nodes, policyenforcement methods, QoS-aware routing for mobile ad-hoc networks, traffic classification, and resource reservation techniques (e.g. signalling support) so that applications can request their desired QoS from a network. Systems that address policymanagement and policy enforcement are commercially available and gaining acceptance. As such, this Phase 1 SBIR effort will focus on the traffic classification, resource reservation, and QoS-based routing problems, with an emphasis on retrofittingtechnically and economically viable solutions onto legacy end systems such as Windows workstations and PCs. In particular, SRC will develop an architecture which may use one signalling technique (such as RSVP) between the user and the first networkelement, and different techniques (such as Diffserv) within the network core.SRC has already developed software technology (IP Overdrive) for the Windows platform that classifies important network traffic, and hence enables QoS in the both Local AreaNetworks and the network core. Enhancing the existing IP Overdrive software to provide support for resource-reservation signaling will successfully address both the traffic classification and resource reservation problems. Finally, SRC can leverage itsexisting work on the Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP) to address QoS-aware routing for the mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) prevalent in DoD tactical applications.