An efficient Scalable structure-Free Inter cluster multicast Routing (SAFIR) protocol for large tactical Mobile Ad hoc Networks

Scalability is a fundamental requirement in the field of Mobile Ad hoc Networks with the current significant growth in military network capabilities, such as greater node counts, increased bandwidth, better routing times and decreased latencies. Indeed, the advent of the digitized battlefield defines the needs for tactical Mobile Ad hoc Networks, which are formed by hundreds to thousands of nodes. Consequently, the well-known challenging issues of multicasting in MANET become even more significant with these networks, since the legacy routing protocols do not scale with such tactical environments. We propose in this paper an efficient solution that meets the needs for a scalable multicast routing protocol for a large-scale tactical MANET. Relying on a clustered network, which is an appropriate solution to handle scalability, the protocol proposed in this paper defines how to achieve multicast communications between nodes that belong to different clusters.