Header Compression for Wireless Ad-hoc Networks in a Military Environment

The objective of this proposal is to select and develop header compression techniques suitable for ad-hoc networks, and demonstrate their viability by analysis and simulation.. Recent header compression technology has been shown to be able to reduceoverall packet sizes substantially, e.g., from 76 bytes (IPv6/UDP/RTP/payload) down to around 17 bytes (1 byte/payload). This reduction of 78 per cent has been achieved for voice traffic over mobile phone links. If similar gains can be realized acrossad-hoc networks, a significant increase in available bandwidth, a reduction of packet loss rates, and a reduction of delay variance would follow. This will make voice and video transmission more efficient across wireless ad-hoc networks. The developedtechniques will be applicable to any tunnels across the Internet, including encrypted tunnels for businesses.