STGM: A Spatiotemporally Correlated Group Mobility Model for Flying Ad Hoc Networks

Abstract

Flying Ad hoc Network (FANET) is a special type of Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) consisting of a swarm of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and simulation is the dominant method for its research. Mobility models that generate the trajectories of UAVs in a flying session are the foundation for constructing a realistic simulation environment. However, existing mobility models targeting general MANETs are not adaptable to FANET, as the mobility patterns of UAVs are fundamentally different from general mobile nodes on the ground. In this paper, we propose a group mobility model called STGM (SpatioTemporally correlated Group Mobility model) for UAVs in a FANET. The distinct feature of STGM is that both the temporal property on the trajectory of a UAV itself and the spatial correlation across multiple UAVs that fly as a coordinated group are taken into account. In addition, the collision-free distribution of UAVs are maintained in STGM. Built on top of mathematical principles, STGM provides a parameterized framework. By adjusting its parameters, it is able to provide UAV trajectories covering different application scenarios. We validate the effectiveness of STGM with a set of important metrics, and the results show that STGM is a suitable and configurable mobility model, which will facilitate FANET research at upper layers.