| Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) appear to be a key feature of nearly all DoD tactical network architectures that are being considered on the road toward a network-centric communications paradigm. MANETs must be carefully analyzed to ensure acceptable measures of performance on an end-to-end basis. Simulation is generally required since analytical techniques cannot be applied effectively for such complex problems due to the complex interaction of protocols across multiple layers and complexity of wireless channel access protocols; however, simulation run-time can often be troublesome. We have been studying techniques to address the excessive run-time problem associated with simulating MANETs and have identified the route formation algorithms as a potential area for significant improvements in run-time performance. The purpose of this paper is to report on the results of a study performed to quantify the run-time improvement achievable by increasing the efficiency of route formation algorithm in our baseline routing protocol by employing more efficient techniques. The Optimized Link State Routing Protocol (OLSR) was used as the unicast routing protocol and Protocol Independent Multicast-Sparse Mode (PIM-SM) was used as the multicast routing protocol. The standard OLSR route formation algorithm was replaced by the breadth first search algorithm with a number of additional modifications. Our results show that employing these new algorithms will result in a lower run-time for the simulation and as a result will make simulation of large ad-hoc networks related to the evolving network-centric DoD architecture more practical. |