A hierarchical routing architecture for the aviation communication network

Aviation communication network is composed of various kinds of IP-enabled aerial mobile ad hoc network, IP-enabled ground network and aerial data link system that don't support IP protocol. Satellite data links would also be available in the future. Different types of networks and systems construct one hierarchical network structure, so single routing protocol or incompatible protocols couldn't be applied to such a kind of network at the same time. This paper, for the first time, proposes a hierarchical routing architecture, which is able to accommodate the unique characteristics of military aviation communication network, which has been verified by computer simulations. The proposed architecture provides multiple routing protocols that can be used for diverse networks and scenarios, and also solutions of inter-operation between different network routing protocols, enabling the architecture suitable for hierarchical heterogeneous networks, which present valuable guidelines for the designs of the routing method in aviation communication network.