A Gateway Prototype for Coalition Tactical MANETs

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are well suited for tactical groups whose operations require that the network adapt to dynamic topology changes without the aid of centralized infrastructures. As more coalition forces deploy in tactical operations, their networks require inter-connectivity for sharing broadcast, multicast and unicast traffic from coalition applications such as situational awareness and sensor data. Inter-MANET connectivity, however, should not be at the cost of compromising a national MANET’s sovereignty in terms of radio devices, subnet address space, and communication and routing protocols. In this paper, we describe our implementation of a gateway application that enables coalition tactical MANETs to inter-connect based on role names instead of IP addresses while keeping their national radios and networking sovereign and while protecting their private network addresses. We exhibit results and learned lessons from our laboratory experiments where we tested our gateway application in several MANET formations to ensure the functionality of relay connectivity, domain name service and network address translation features. The gateway application has potential to serve as a prototype for the future development of secure interoperability policies, service level agreements and standards at the tactical edge, e.g., for future NATO standardization agreements (STANAGs).