[manet] special MANET broadcast addresses?

["Stevens, Jim A Collins" <[e-mail]>]

I am working on a multihop MANET network protocol design where the MANET radios can be one or more RF hops from each other.  There can be multiple hosts connected to the MANET radios at each MANET platform (vehicle) - either directly via ethernet or via a router connected to the MANET radio.

Two of the desired services of this MANET network are

  1.  for applications in a host at one MANET platform to send packets to hosts at platforms of MANET radios that are one-RF-hop away from the source's MANET radio (called "One-RF-hop-cast") and
  2.  for applications in a host at one MANET platform to send packets to hosts at platforms of all the other MANET radios. (called "All-RF-cast")

We can't address these two services using IP link-local broadcast (255.255.255.255) or directed subnet broadcast because the hosts could be in different IP subnets at the different MANET platforms.

Thus, we are planning to define two IP multicast addresses to indicate these two services.  One multicast to go to hosts connected to radios one-RF hop away via the MANET network and one multicast address to go to all hosts connected to the MANET network.

We can have two choices for defining those multicast addresses

  1.  define two addresses from the Administratively Scoped Multicast Space defined in RFCs 2365 and 5771 or
  2.  request two global multicast addresses from IANA  (probably from Ad Hoc Block 1 defined in RFC 5771).

Questions

  1.  are there any other MANET networks/protocols today that do something like this?  If yes, how do they indicate the desire for these two services?
  2.  are these two services general enough that they should become a global service that is available in other MANET networks/protocols than the one I am working on?

Thanks
Jim Stevens