Subject: Re: [gaia] draft-irtf-gaia-alternative-network-deployments. Nicolas review, question #4: Routing protocols

From: "Jose Saldana" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:55:13 +0200

Hi, Nicolás,

> 
> # Section 7.1.2.2
> When refering to bmx6, the wording: " this is an advanced version of the
BATMAN
> protocol" is confusing as the other popular BATMAN derivative is called
batman-
> advanced.
> 
> Maybe this section could have more extensive information as it actually
represents
> the core of much development in the Community Network movement.

This would be the new version of this section:
Please feel free to suggest your improvements to the text.

7.1.2.  Routing protocols

   As stated in previous sections, Alternative Networks are composed of
   possibly different layer 2 devices, resulting in a mesh of nodes.
   Connection between different nodes is not guaranteed and the link
   stability can vary strongly over time.  To tackle this, some
   Alternative Networks use mesh network routing protocols while other
   networks use more traditional routing protocols.  Some networks
   operate multiple routing protocols in parallel.  For example, they
   may use a mesh protocol inside different islands and rely on
   traditional routing protocols to connect these islands.

7.1.2.1.  Traditional routing protocols

   The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), as defined by [RFC4271] is used by
   a number of Community Networks, because of its well-studied behavior
   and scalability.

   For similar reasons, smaller networks opt to run the Open Shortest
   Path First (OSPF) protocol, as defined by [RFC2328].

7.1.2.2.  Mesh routing protocols

   A large number of Alternative Networks use the Optimized Link State
   Routing Protocol (OLSR) as defined in [RFC3626].  The pro-active link
   state routing protocol is a good match with Alternative Networks
   because it has good performance in mesh networks where nodes have
   multiple interfaces.

   The Better Approach To Mobile Adhoc Networking (BATMAN) [Abolhasan]
   protocol was developed by members of the Freifunk community.  The
   protocol handles all routing at layer 2, creating one bridged
   network.

   Parallel to BGP, some networks also run the BatMan-eXperimental
   (BMX6) protocol [Neumann_a].  This is an evolved version of the
   BATMAN protocol which is based on IPv6 and tries to exploit the
   social structure of Alternative Networks.  In [Neumann_b] a study of
   three proactive mesh routing protocols is presented, in terms of
   scalability, performance, and stability.

Thanks,

Jose

---

From: Mitar <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2016 02:42:33 -0700

Hi!

I think the routing section in general needs some improvements.

- so OLSR is not used as it is, it is used as special implementation
with ETX and many other small hacks/improvements, as developed by
http://olsr.org/
- now is in development and use already OLSR2
- Babel is missing
- Batman by itself is not used as much (I might not even mention it
anymore), but Batman-advanced (L2 protocol) is used, probably the main
feature it supports is roaming inside a mesh network
- BMX might started as fork of Batman and name comes from there, but I
think these days nobody sees it anymore like that, so calling it
Batman-experimental I think is misdirecting at this time

So, the list of protocols to have, I would suggest:

OLSR, OLSR2, Babel, B.A.T.M.A.N. Advanced, Bmx6.

Also, not sure if people here are familiar, but this event is very
interesting, where many community networks come together and compare
various routing protocols and their configurations in a real common
testbed:

http://battlemesh.org/

If people are interested in this stuff, you should come this year. It
will be in Porto, Portugal.

Mitar

On Tue, Apr 12, 2016 at 6:55 AM, Jose Saldana <[email-masked]> wrote:
> _______________________________________________
> gaia mailing list
> [email-masked]
> https://www.irtf.org/mailman/listinfo/gaia

-- 
http://mitar.tnode.com/
https://twitter.com/mitar_m

---

From: "Jose Saldana" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2016 10:01:07 +0200

Hi, 

> -----Mensaje original-----
> De: gaia [mailto:[email-masked]] En nombre de Mitar
> Enviado el: miércoles, 13 de abril de 2016 11:43
> Para: Jose Saldana <[email-masked]>
> CC: gaia <[email-masked]>; Nicolás Echániz <[email-masked]>
> Asunto: Re: [gaia] draft-irtf-gaia-alternative-network-deployments. Nicolas review,
> question #4: Routing protocols
> 
> Hi!
> 
> - so OLSR is not used as it is, it is used as special implementation with ETX and
> many other small hacks/improvements, as developed by http://olsr.org/
> - Batman by itself is not used as much (I might not even mention it anymore), but
> Batman-advanced (L2 protocol) is used, probably the main feature it supports is
> roaming inside a mesh network
> - BMX might started as fork of Batman and name comes from there, but I think
> these days nobody sees it anymore like that, so calling it Batman-experimental I
> think is misdirecting at this time
> 

What about this new version? Thanks!

   A large number of Alternative Networks use the Optimized Link State
   Routing Protocol (OLSR) as defined in [RFC3626].  The pro-active link
   state routing protocol is a good match with Alternative Networks
   because it has good performance in mesh networks where nodes have
   multiple interfaces.  Special features and improvements (not included
   in [RFC3626] are being added to OLSR [olsr.org], and a new version of
   the protocol (OLSR2) is being developed.

   Babel [RFC6126] is a loop-avoiding distance-vector routing protocol
   that is robust and efficient both in wired and wireless mesh
   networks.  It limits the frequency and duration of routing loops and
   black-holes during reconvergence.

   The Better Approach To Mobile Adhoc Networking (BATMAN) [Abolhasan]
   protocol was developed by members of the Freifunk community.  The
   protocol handles all routing at layer 2, creating one bridged
   network.  BATMAN-Advanced, which supports roaming inside a mesh
   network is nowadays more popular.

   Parallel to BGP, some networks also run the BMX6 protocol
   [Neumann_a], which started as a fork of BATMAN.  It is based on IPv6
   and tries to exploit the social structure of Alternative Networks.

   In [Neumann_b] a study of three proactive mesh routing protocols used
   in wireless community networks (BMX6, OLSR, and Babel) is presented,
   in terms of scalability, performance, and stability.

Best regards,

Jose 

> 
> Also, not sure if people here are familiar, but this event is very interesting, where
> many community networks come together and compare various routing protocols
> and their configurations in a real common
> testbed:
> 
> http://battlemesh.org/
> 
> If people are interested in this stuff, you should come this year. It will be in Porto,
> Portugal.
> 
> 
> Mitar
>

---

From: Mitar <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2016 02:25:22 -0700

Hi!

> What about this new version? Thanks!

I have just sent my take on this section. Feel free to use/combine at
your own discretion.
>    network is nowadays more popular.

To be precise: BATMAN was layer 3 protocol. I do not think anybody
uses it at it is. It has evolved into BATMAN-Advanced (layer 2) and
BMX6.

Mitar