A Cross-layer Network Substrate for the Battlefield

This paper describes the initial design and implementation of a cross-layer communications substrate for tactical networks. Traditional crosslayer strategies for MANETs often rely on the direct interaction between neighbor layers in the communications stack. We propose a different approach, where all lower layers (PHY, MAC and NET) directly interact with the overlying applications (or communications middleware). In this work, we discuss some of the requirements for cross-layer support in a tactical environment. We also introduce our proposed design for a cross-layer communications substrate for such environments, concluding the paper with a brief description of our current proof-of-concept implementation and future research proposal.