Mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) including forward error correction (FEC), interleaving, and multi-route communication features and related methods

1. A mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) comprising:

a source node, a destination node, and a plurality of intermediate nodes;

said source node establishing a plurality of routes to said destination node for transferring data therebetween using a MANET routing protocol, each route passing through at least one of said intermediate nodes;

said source node also

encoding a plurality of data packets using a forward error correction (FEC) encoding algorithm to generate error correction data for the data packets,

interleaving the data packets and error correction data, and

distributing and concurrently sending different portions of the interleaved data packets and error correction data across the plurality of routes to said destination node; said destination node

receiving the interleaved data packets and error correction data via the plurality of routes,

deinterleaving the data packets and error correction data, and

decoding the data packets based upon the error correction data using an FEC decoding algorithm to correct compromised data packets.

2. The EVIANET of claim 1 wherein said source node interleaves the data packets in rows such that each row includes data packets and the respective error correction data therefor.

3. The MANET of claim 2 wherein the FEC encoding algorithm comprises a Reed-Solomon encoding algorithm, and wherein the error correction data comprises a respective Reed-Solomon codeword for each row.

4. The MANET of claim 2 wherein said source node distributes and sends the interleaved data packets and error correction data by dividing the rows thereof into a plurality of columns and sending the columns to said destination node across respective routes.

5. The MANET of claim 1 wherein the plurality of data packets comprise transport layer data packets; and wherein said source node distributes the interleaved transport layer data packets and error correction data by grouping the interleaved transport layer data packets and error correction data into a plurality of network layer packets.

6. The MANET of claim 5 wherein said source node generates respective network layer packet headers for each network layer packet, and wherein said destination node orders the network layer packets for deinterleaving based upon the network layer packet headers.

7. The MANET of claim 1 wherein said source node interleaves the data packets and error correction data based upon at least one FEC parameter, and wherein said source node changes the at least one FEC parameter based upon a quality of service (QoS) measurement of the plurality of routes.

8. The MANET of claim 1 wherein said source node inserts packet delimiters between the plurality of packets prior to encoding; and wherein said destination node extracts the data packets following decoding based upon the packet delimiters.

9. The MANET of claim 1 wherein said source node interleaves the data packets and error correction data using at least one of block, convolutional, helical, and pseudorandom interleaving.

10. The MANET of claim 1 wherein the MANET routing protocol comprises a proactive MANET routing protocol.

11. The MANET of claim 1 wherein the MANET routing protocol comprises a reactive MANET routing protocol.

12. A mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) comprising:

a source node, a destination node, and a plurality of intermediate nodes;

said source node establishing a plurality of routes to said destination node for transferring data therebetween, each route passing through at least one of said intermediate nodes;

said source node also interleaving a plurality of data packets and distributing and concurrently sending different portions of the interleaved data packets across the plurality of routes to said destination node;

said destination node receiving the interleaved data packets via the plurality of routes and deinterleaving the data packets.

13. The MANET of claim 12 wherein said source node further encodes the data packets using a forward error correction (FEC) encoding algorithm to generate error correction data therefor.

14. The MANET of claim 13 wherein said source node interleaves the data packets in rows such that each row includes data packets and the respective error correction data therefor.

15. The MANET of claim 14 wherein said source node distributes and sends the interleaved data packets and error correction data by dividing the rows thereof into a plurality of columns and sending the columns to said destination node across respective routes.

16. The MANET of claim 13 wherein the FEC encoding algorithm comprises a Reed-Solomon encoding algorithm, and wherein the error correction data comprises a respective Reed-Solomon codeword for each row.

17. The MANET of claim 13 wherein said source node inserts packet delimiters between the plurality of packets prior to encoding; and wherein said destination node extracts the data packets following decoding based upon the packet delimiters.

18. The MANET of claim 12 wherein the plurality of data packets comprise transport layer data packets; and wherein said source node distributes the interleaved transport layer data packets by grouping the interleaved transport layer data packets into a plurality of network layer packets.

19. The MANET of claim 18 wherein said source node generates respective network layer packet headers for each network layer packet, and wherein said destination node orders the network layer packets for deinterleaving based upon the network layer packet headers.

20. The MANET of claim 12 wherein said source node interleaves the data packets using at least one of block, convolutional, helical, and pseudorandom interleaving.

21. The MANET of claim 12 wherein said source node establishes the plurality of routes using a proactive MANET routing protocol.

22. The MANET of claim 12 wherein said source node establishes the plurality of routes using a reactive MANET routing protocol.

23. A node for a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) comprising:

a controller for

establishing a plurality of routes to a destination node in the MANET for transferring data therebetween, each route passing through at least one intermediate node in the MANET,

interleaving a plurality of data packets to be sent to the destination node, and

distributing different portions of the interleaved data packets across the plurality of routes; and

a wireless communications device for cooperating with said controller to concurrently send the distributed interleaved data packets across the plurality of routes to said destination node.

24. The MANET node of claim 23 wherein said controller further encodes the data packets using a forward error correction (FEC) encoding algorithm to generate error correction data therefor.

25. The MANET node of claim 24 wherein said controller interleaves the data packets in rows such that each row includes data packets and the respective error correction data therefor.

26. The MANET node of claim 25 wherein said controller distributes the interleaved data packets and error correction data by dividing the rows thereof into a plurality of columns; and wherein said controller cooperates with said wireless communications device to send the columns to the destination node across respective routes.

27. The MANET node of claim 24 wherein the FEC encoding algorithm comprises a Reed-Solomon encoding algorithm, and wherein the error correction data comprises a respective Reed-Solomon codeword for each row.

28. The MANET node of claim 24 wherein said controller inserts packet delimiters between the plurality of packets prior to encoding.

29. The MANET node of claim 23 wherein the plurality of data packets comprise transport layer data packets; and wherein said controller distributes the interleaved transport layer data packets by grouping the interleaved transport layer data packets into a plurality of network layer packets.

30. The MANET node of claim 29 wherein said controller generates respective network layer packet headers for each network layer packet.

31. The MANET node of claim 23 wherein said controller interleaves the data packets using at least one of block, convolutional, helical, and pseudorandom interleaving.

32. A network comprising:

a source node, a destination node, and a plurality of intermediate nodes;

said source node establishing a plurality of routes to said destination node for transferring data therebetween, each route passing through at least one of said intermediate nodes;

said source node also interleaving a plurality of data packets and distributing and concurrently sending different portions of the interleaved data packets across the plurality of routes to said destination node;

said destination node receiving the interleaved data packets via the plurality of routes and deinterleaving the data packets.

33. The network of claim 32 wherein said source node further encodes the data packets using a forward error correction (FEC) encoding algorithm to generate error correction data therefor.

34. The network of claim 33 wherein said source node interleaves the data packets in rows such that each row includes data packets and the respective error correction data therefor.

35. The network of claim 34 wherein said source node distributes and sends the interleaved data packets and error correction data by dividing the rows thereof into a plurality of columns and sending the columns to said destination node across respective routes.

36. The network of claim 33 wherein the FEC encoding algorithm comprises a Reed-Solomon encoding algorithm, and wherein the error correction data comprises a respective Reed-Solomon codeword for each row.

37. The network of claim 33 wherein said source node inserts packet delimiters between the plurality of packets prior to encoding; and wherein said destination node extracts the data packets following decoding based upon the packet delimiters.

38. The network of claim 32 wherein the plurality of data packets comprise transport layer data packets; and wherein said source node distributes the interleaved transport layer data packets by grouping the interleaved transport layer data packets into a plurality of network layer packets.

39. The network of claim 38 wherein said source node generates respective network layer packet headers for each network layer packet, and wherein said destination node orders the network layer packets for deinterleaving based upon the network layer packet headers.

40. The network of claim 32 wherein said source node interleaves the data packets using at least one of block, convolutional, helical, and pseudorandom interleaving.

41. A method for communicating between a source node and a destination node in a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) also comprising a plurality of intermediate nodes, the method comprising:

establishing a plurality of routes from the source node to the destination node for transferring data therebetween, each route passing through at least one of the intermediate nodes;

interleaving a plurality of data packets at the source node;

distributing the interleaved data packets at the source node across the plurality of routes;

concurrently sending different portions of the distributed interleaved data packets from the source node across the plurality of routes to the destination node;

receiving the interleaved data packets via the plurality of routes at the destination node; and

deinterleaving the data packets at the destination node.

42. The method of claim 41 further comprising encoding the data packets at the source node using a forward error correction (FEC) encoding algorithm to generate error correction data therefor prior to interleaving.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein interleaving comprises interleaving the data packets in rows such that each row includes respective error correction data therefor.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein distributing comprises dividing the rows of interleaved data packets and error correction data into a plurality of columns, and wherein sending comprises sending the columns to the destination node across respective routes.

45. The method of claim 42 wherein the FEC encoding algorithm comprises a Reed-Solomon encoding algorithm, and wherein the error correction data comprises a respective Reed-Solomon codeword for each row.

46. The method of claim 42 further comprising:

inserting packet delimiters between the plurality of packets at the source node prior to encoding; and

extracting the data packets at the destination node following decoding based upon the packet delimiters.

47. The method of claim 41 wherein the plurality of data packets comprise transport layer data packets; and wherein distributing comprises grouping the interleaved transport layer data packets into a plurality of network layer packets.

48. The method of claim 47 further comprising:

generating respective network layer packet headers for each network layer packet at the source node; and

ordering the network layer packets for deinterleaving at the destination node based upon the network layer packet headers.

49. The method of claim 41 wherein interleaving comprises interleaving the data packets using at least one of block, convolutional, helical, and pseudorandom interleaving.

50. The method of claim 41 wherein establishing comprises establishing the plurality of routes using a proactive MANET routing protocol.

51. The method of claim 41 wherein establishing comprises establishing the plurality of routes using a reactive MANET routing protocol.