[rbridge] Rbridges for MANETs?

[Joe Touch]

Templin, Fred L wrote:
> I am wondering if anyone has considered Mobile Ad-hoc Networks
> (MANETs) as an instance of a "campus" that Rbridges might find
> themselves in?

For this WG, my understanding is no.

In particular, we assume that existing routing is used inside the campus
(perhaps modified to transit rbridge info, but otherwise as-is), and
that rbridge dynamics are similar to existing bridge dynamics.

> Due to node mobility, Rbridges would have to deal
> with frequent link state changes in such an environment which
> would give a constantly changing topology along with potentially
> multiplicative increase in routing protocol overhead. Do we see
> Rbridges as potentially extending to cover the MANET space?

That sounds like a job for a new routing protocol that an rbridge might
use, but not specific to rbridges.

> I ask this partly because there will be a BOF on Ad-Hoc Network
> Autonconfiguration (AUTOCONF) at the upcoming IETF and I wonder
> about the overlap between what is being considered there and
> TRILL. A quick overview makes it seem that the AUTOCONF approach
> has more of a layer 3 flavor while TRILL is more focused on the
> layer 2 proxy approach. Has anyone considered whether the two
> approaches are essentially addressing the same problem space?

Bridges live in a world of known (or at least assumed) unique,
predeployed global endpoint identifiers, and provide broadcast as well
as multicast. These are some of the more significant challenges that
AUTOCONF needs to address (sans broadcast), so I don't see them as related.

Joe
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