Tiny Bubbles: A fault-tolerant distributed overlay for networks with block-churn

Military networks can be divided into two main areas. The strategic network, usually made up of fixed locations, is typically the main collection point for information and subsequent analysis. The other primary network, the tactical network, is the dynamic environment that our front line warfighters use in the changing battlefront. There is critical need for information to pass between any given sets of nodes across these networks efficiently. Unfortunately, these networks are often a hodge-podge of sub-networks patched together to perform critical tasks. This paper introduces a middle-ware protocol that can be used for locating distributed information in both the strategic and tactical military environments. We narrow our focus on developing a new peer-to-peer overlay that will allow implementation over a heterogeneous environment that consists of various off-the-shelf and proprietary hardware. Along with the effort to provide a method for seamlessly connecting all networked components, we propose that the solution be fault tolerant and adjustable given the highly mobile environments found throughout the strategic and tactical fronts.