NIST RESEARCHERS RELEASE PUBLIC-DOMAIN DYNAMIC SOURCE ROUTING MODEL.

In December 2000, at a meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), NIST researchers announced the availability of a validated, public domain OPNET model for the dynamic source routing (DSR) protocol, proposed as one of several candidates for routing in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). This model was developed as part of a collaborative project with DARPA. DARPA asked NIST to evaluate the military suitability of the MANET routing protocols being developed in the IETF. MANETs aim to provide routing in networks consisting entirely of mobile nodes, that is, networks without any fixed infrastructure.

Given a set of military requirements for routing in MANETs, NIST researchers developed criteria for evaluating MANETs. Many of the criteria relate to performance against relevant topologies and mobility scenarios. To compare candidate protocols fairly and accurately requires the existence of complete and validated protocol models. The DSR model released by NIST represents a first step to satisfy this need. NIST has released the DSR model publicly for use by companies, research laboratories, and other groups that wish to independently validate the model. The Web site is http://w3.antd.nist.gov/wctg.