A heterogeneous software defined networking architecture for the tactical edge

Abstract

The demand for real-time data in a modern battlefield is increasing exponentially. As a result, current military network paradigms and architectures are struggling to cope with increasing capacity demands at the tactical edge. Unfortunately, rescaling existing network architectures will not be a permanent solution to the problem. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a 3- tiered Software Defined Networking (SDN) architecture consisting of heterogeneous Dense Networks (DenseNets), which is a highly condensed deployment of relatively small, lowpowered femtocells, at the tactical edge. The proposed 3-tiered SDN architecture abstracts the Land Tactical Network (LTN) as the Physical Layer, the Battlefield Tactical Network (BTN) as the Control Layer, and the Joint Task Force Headquarters (JTFHQ) as the Management Layer. The simulation and results confirm the architecture’s capability for providing interoperability between heterogeneous communications equipment and supporting high capacity demands within limited and unreliable networking infrastructure in battlefield environments.