Evaluation of a resource reservation service for maritime tactical networks

One of the basic problems in maritime tactical networks is how to maximize the quality of service (QoS) achieved by critical traffic while dealing with mobile and limited-capacity links. This paper describes an evaluation of the resource reservation service (RRS), a distributed admission control protocol designed to guarantee end-to-end bandwidth for critical traffic in the maritime environment. The evaluation was accomplished using the OPNET discrete-event simulation tool. The RRS includes a number of features tailored for maritime networks including multiroute probing, aggregated pre-emption, and improved robustness. The effect of this service on network traffic is compared with two alternate reservation protocols: RSVP, the standard for wired networks, and INSIGNIA, a MANET reservation protocol.