Applicability of the temporally-ordered routing algorithm for use in mobile tactical networks

We present a conceptual overview of the temporally-ordered routing algorithm (TORA), discuss the philosophy that shaped its design and consider its applicability for use in forward-deployed mobile tactical networks. The salient characteristics of mobile, multihop, wireless networks differ significantly from those of traditional hardwired networks. Consequently, the routing protocols that have been designed for operation in the Internet are not particularly well-suited for use in mobile tactical environments. TORA, which has been tailored for operation in this highly-dynamic networking environment, represents a significant departure from the traditional “shortest-path” routing paradigm. We also highlight simulation results of a performance comparison with ideal link-state (ILS) routing. The results show that the relative performance of TORA and ILS is critically dependent on the network size and average rate of topological changes. The results further indicate that the performance of TORA exceeds that of ILS for the conditions expected in relatively large mobile networks, lending credence to the philosophy behind the TORA design