A Hierarchical P2P Overlay for Hierarchical Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs)

P2P applications deployment on MANETs is motivated by the popularity of these applications, coupled with the widespread use of mobile devices. P2P applications and MANETs have common features such as decentralization, and the absence of dedicated servers or infrastructure. The deployment often faces specific performance challenges resulting from topological overlay and underlay mismatch, limited bandwidth constraint and dynamic topology changes. Hierarchical MANETs are a special type of MANETs where some nodes have specific routing roles to allow inter- cluster communications. Such topologies (typical for tactical networks) render a successful P2P deployment more challenging. We developed a novel approach for P2P deployment in such networks by bringing topology-awareness into the overlay, and building a hierarchically-structured logical overlay on top of the hierarchical underlay. Simulation results demonstrated a significant performance advantage of our solution vs. a flat logical overlay using different configurations and mobility scenarios.