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Airborne Surveillance Networks with Directional Antennas

Authors:
William Huba
Nirmala Shenoy

Keywords: airborne surveillance; network of unmanned aerial vehicles; directional antennas; TDMA

Abstract:
Surveillance using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is an important application in tactical networks. Such networks are challenged by the highly dynamic network topologies, which result in frequent link and route breaks. This requires robust routing algorithms and protocols. Depending on the coverage area, several UAVs may be deployed thus requiring solutions that are scalable. The use of directional antennas mitigates the challenges due to limited bandwidth, but requires a scheduling algorithm to provide conflict free schedules to transmitting nodes. In this article we introduce a new approach, which uses a single algorithm 1) that facilitates multi hop overlapped cluster formations to address scalability and data aggregation; 2) provides robust multiple routes from data generating nodes to data aggregation node and; 3) aids in performing distributed scheduling using a Time Division Multiple Access protocol. The integrated solution was modeled using Opnet and evaluated for success rate in packet delivery and average end to end packet delivery latency primarily. The notably high success rates important for surveillance purposes coupled with low latencies validate the use of the proposed solution in critical surveillance applications

Pages: 1 to 7

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2012

Publication date: March 25, 2012

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4006

ISBN: 978-1-61208-186-1

Location: St. Maarten, The Netherlands Antilles

Dates: from March 25, 2012 to March 30, 2012