BATMAN

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BATMAN advanced

The official BATMAN logo
Basic data

Maintainer BATMAN team
Current  version 2019.1
( March 28, 2019 )
operating system Linux
programming language C.
category Routing protocol, kernel module
License GNU General Public License
http://www.open-mesh.org/

BATMAN (Abbreviation for Better Approach To Mobile Adhoc Networking ) is a routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks . Mobile ad hoc networks bring with them the particular challenge that the connection quality of the radio links is constantly changing. The task of the routing protocol is to continuously determine which nodes in the network can currently be reached via which route, and to enter this in the routing tables of the devices involved. The BATMAN protocol has been developed since 2006 mainly in the context of the Freifunk community, but its use is not limited to this project.

history

Before BATMAN existed, Freifunk communities only used the OLSR routing protocol . This protocol uses the Dijkstra algorithm to permanently determine all routes between all routers in the mobile ad hoc network. Each node in an OLSR network knows the entire network. However, this creates unnecessary computing effort and data traffic. Various attempts to adapt the OLSR software did not lead to the hoped-for increase in performance. Based on this experience, some members of the Freifunk community started to develop a new approach in 2006. The routing tables of the individual nodes of a mobile ad hoc network should be determined and updated in a more efficient way.

functionality

BATMAN does not calculate the routing tables for the entire network on every device. Every router with BATMAN regularly informs its neighboring routers about its existence via broadcast messages (so-called originator messages). The routers repeat these messages in turn for their neighboring routers. This tells the entire network which BATMAN routers exist. A router only writes in the routing table via which neighbors which other routers can be reached without checking the entire route to the destination. The broadcast messages contain a metric that says something about the quality of the connection, so that every router also has information about how good the current connection is.

There are different implementations of the BATMAN routing protocol. Like most routing protocols, the original BATMAN works on layer 3 of the OSI model , ie it sends IP packets. It determines information about the optimal routes in the computer network by exchanging UDP packets with other routers. Using this information, it fills the kernel's routing table.

In contrast to this classic BATMAN, the newer "BATMAN advanced" (also "Batman-adv") works on layer 2 of the OSI model . The entire meshed network thus appears as a distributed switch for the layers above : the network traffic is encapsulated and sent to its destination as if it were the next neighbor. Software that works on layer 3 using IP does not need to know anything about the mesh network.

BATMAN advanced therefore has the following properties:

  • A node can participate in the meshed network before it has an IP address .
  • Any OSI Layer 3 protocol can be used, e.g. B. IPv4 , IPv6 , DHCP .
  • (Mobile) end devices can then be integrated into the overall network by assigning IP addresses via DHCP, even if they cannot meshen themselves.
  • (Mobile) end devices can roam between BATMAN advanced-meshed access points.

To improve data throughput, BATMAN advanced was integrated as a Linux kernel module and has been part of the Linux mainline kernel since 2011. This module continues to be actively developed.

distribution

BATMAN advanced is used to set up WLAN mesh networks, for example by Freifunk in Germany, Altermundi in Argentina and guifi.net in Catalonia / Spain. In the Freifunk initiative, BATMAN advanced is now more widespread than the OLSR protocol. In the commercial sector, the software from the company open-mesh.com is used on preconfigured access points that also set up meshed networks using BATMAN. The RADIUSdesk project develops graphical user interfaces for access points and meshed networks as free software , but also offers paid customization work on the software.

In addition to WLANs, BATMAN is also used for local IP telephony : The Village Telco initiative builds low-cost local telephony networks with meshed networks that use the "BATMAN Daemon" implementation. The corresponding router for this is called "Mesh Potato". The Serval Project implements VoIP telephony between smartphones via a meshed network.

Like OLSR, BATMAN has aroused scientific interest and is mentioned numerous times in the literature. Most of the lectures and studies have dealt with performance comparisons between different routing protocols. The properties of BATMAN itself were e.g. B. examined in connection with Voice over IP telephony.

The communities that build wireless mesh networks themselves conduct the international "Wireless Battle of the Mesh" once a year, in which the performance of various routing protocols is subjected to practical tests.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Batman-adv 2019.1 released .
  2. ^ Corinna "Elektra" Aichele: Mesh. Wireless ad hoc networks, Open Source Press, Munich 2007, p. 27 f.
  3. ↑ Elektra: The OLSR.ORG story. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  4. ^ Corinna "Elektra" Aichele: Mesh. Wireless ad hoc networks, Open Source Press, Munich 2007, 29, 71 f.
  5. ↑ First findable post on the development status of BATMAN on public mailing list. March 2006, accessed May 24, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Release message for version BATMAN-III 0.1-rc1. October 2006, accessed May 24, 2015 .
  7. ^ Corinna "Elektra" Aichele: Mesh. Wireless ad hoc networks, Open Source Press, Munich 2007, p. 71 f.
  8. ↑ Kristian Kißling: Wireless ad hoc networks. Systematic chaos, in: Linux-Magazin 07/2014
  9. ↑ Overview of the various BATMAN implementations. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Brief explanation of the routing on Layer 3 in the BATMAN Wiki. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  11. ↑ BATMAN advanced in the open-mesh.org-Wiki. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  12. ^ Wireless Networking in the Developing World. A practical guide to planning and building low-cost telecommunications infrastructure, pp. 138 f.
  13. ↑ Interview with Elektra Wagenrad in Linux magazine 07/2014
  14. ↑ Introductory documentation for BATMAN advanced. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  15. ↑ Commit in the version control of the Linux kernel project. 2010, accessed May 24, 2015 .
  16. ↑ Release Notes Kernel 2.6.38. 2011, accessed May 24, 2015 .
  17. ↑ BATMAN advanced in the kernel documentation. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  18. ↑ Thorsten Leemhuis: Kernel-Log - What 3.8 brings (3): Driver. In: heise Open Source. February 14, 2013, accessed May 24, 2015 .
  19. ↑ List of projects using BATMAN. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  20. ^ Website of the community network guifi.net in Catalonia. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  21. ↑ List of Freifunk communities with details of firmware and routing protocols used. Retrieved on May 24, 2015 (German).
  22. ↑ Web site open-mesh.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  23. ↑ Web site RADIUSdesk. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  24. ^ Website of the Village Telco initiative. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  25. ↑ David Rowe: The Mesh Potato , in Linux Journal No. 188, Dec. 2009
  26. ↑ Anja Krieger: Meshed Networks. In: heise Telepolis. May 14, 2010, accessed May 24, 2015 .
  27. ^ Website of the software project The Serval Project. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  28. ↑ List of research papers on open-mesh.org. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  29. ↑ Mustafa Hashem Sherif / Abdelhamid Mellouk / Jun Li / Paolo Bellavista: Ad Hoc Networks: 5th International ICST Conference, ADHOCNETS 2013, Barcelona, ​​Spain, October 2013, Revised Selected Papers, Springer, 2014
  30. ↑ Elis Kulla / Masahiro Hiyama / Makoto Ikeda / Leonard Barolli: Performance comparison of OLSR and BATMAN routing protocols by a MANET testbed in stairs environment, in: Computers and Mathematics with Applications, January 2012, Volume 63 (2), pp. 339 ff .
  31. ↑ Davinder Singh Sandhu / Sukesha Sharma: Performance Evaluation of BATMAN, DSR, OLSR Routing Protocols - A Review, in: International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, January 2012, Volume 2 (1), pp. 184-188
  32. ↑ Iván Armuelles Vionov / Aidelen Chung Cedeño / Joaquín Chung / Grace González: A Performance Analysis of Wireless Mesh Networks Implementations Based on Open Source Software, in: Luis Corral / Alberto Sillitti / Giancarlo Succi / Jelena Vlasenko / Anthony I. Wasserman (eds. ): Open Source Software: Mobile Open Source Technologies: 10th IFIP WG 2.13 International Conference on Open Source Systems, OSS 2014, San José, Costa Rica, May 6-9, 2014, Proceedings, Springer, 2014, pp. 107–110
  33. ↑ Ramon Sanchez Iborra: Performance evaluation of BATMAN routing protocol for VoIP services: a QoE perspective, in: IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (Impact Factor: 2.76). 09/2014; 13 (9), pp. 4947-4958. doi : 10.1109 / TWC.2014.2321576
  34. ^ Website of the "Wireless Battle of the Mesh". Retrieved May 24, 2015 .