Forwarding data packets in an integrated voice and data packet radio network

New waveforms and channel-access protocols improve the ability to support data traffic in traditional voice only systems, such as SINCGARS and HAVEQUICK. The traditional systems are also extended to provide multiple-hop relaying of data traffic through the addition of network layer protocols. In this manuscript we present an adaptive forwarding protocol that can respond quickly to local changes in the environment and the voice traffic load. An OPNET simulation, which models the physical, channel-access, and network layers, is implemented to characterize the performance of the network protocols. We show the ability of the network to support relaying of data traffic, and we show the improvement in performance that is achieved through the use of the adaptive forwarding protocol.