Tactical Networks Research Articles

군 전술 통신에서의 주파수 공동사용 기반 인지엔진 플랫폼 연구

본 논문은 주파수 공동사용 체계를 기반으로 군 전술 통신망 환경에서 동적 스펙트럼 접속 실현이 가능한 인지엔진 플랫폼을 제안하였다. 현재의 군 전술 무선통신 체계는 동종 및 이종의 군 전술 무선통신의 효과적 운용을 위한 추가 주파수 확보 및 무기체계 무선망 간의 상호공존 방안에 대한 필요성이 빠르게 증가하고 있는 실정이다. 본 논문은 추가 주파수 확보 방안으로 미국 및 유럽을 중심으로 활발한 연구개발이 진행되고 있는 주파수 공동사용에 대한 정책 및 연구개발 추진현황에 대해 살펴보았다. 또한, 동적 스펙트럼 접속(DSA: Dynamic Spectrum Access)을 위한 군 전술 무선통신분야의 핵심 기술인 인지엔진 기술개발 현황에 대해서도 소개하였다. 이를 통하여 본 논문은 최신 트랜드 흐름을 고려하여 향후 군 전술 무선통신에서 추가 주파수 확보 및 동적 스펙트럼 접속의 실현, 무기체계 무선망 간 상호공존이 가능한 주파수 공동사용 기반의 인지엔진 플랫폼 구조에 대해 제안하였다. This paper proposes a cognitive engine platform that enables dynamic spectrum access(DSA) based on a spectrum sharing system for the military tactical network environment. The current military tactical wireless communication system is increasing need to secure a supplementary wireless spectrum to ensure that multiple wireless networks for different weapon systems co-exist, so that tactical wireless communication between the same or different systems can be operated effectively. This paper examined policy development and research activities engaged by the U.S. and European countries on wireless spectrum sharing to secure more spectrum. It also introduces the current status of cognitive engine development, which is the core technology of tactical wireless communication for DSA. In addition, based on the investigation performed into the latest trends, we propose a platform structure for a cognitive engine based on a spectrum sharing method where more frequencies can be added for tactical radio communication, so that DSA can be realized, and wireless networks of different weapon systems can co-exist.

Applying location estimation for reliable routing in tactical unmanned ground vehicle networks

An unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) network operates as an ad hoc autonomous tactical network. In this paper, we study the deployment of a UGV network and its ability to use location estimation to provide reliable data forwarding. This analysis involves (1) location estimation to obtain realistic estimates of the node’s (UGV) spatial positions and (2) real-time path planning to obtain reliable routing among nodes using the estimates of the node positions. Conventional approaches commonly use the popular Random Waypoint (RWP) model (or its variants) as the mobility model. The RWP approach uses randomly selected node positions and has no way to cope with nodes moving in and out of transmission range. These deficiencies cause the route reliability to suffer. Our approach (1) uses an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for node mobility/location estimation and (2) uses a modified Ad Hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV) algorithm for route selection using a new routing parameter called contact time. We refer to this combined approach as the AODV-LocPred algorithm. We compare the AODV-LocPred algorithm with AODV using the RWP model. This is referred to as AODV-RWP. Our simulations show that the AODV-LocPred algorithm significantly outperforms the AODV-RWP algorithm in terms of packet delivery ratio (PDR), because it provides realistic node position estimates and it copes in a reasonable way with nodes moving in and out of transmission range. However, the AODV-LocPred incurs an increase in end-to-end delay. Nonetheless, we expect that in many real-world settings, this tradeoff is acceptable.

Fresh food sustainable distribution: cost, delivery time and carbon footprint three-objective optimization

This paper presents a three-objective distribution planner to tackle the tactical optimization of fresh food distribution networks considering operating cost, carbon footprint and delivery time goals. The developed expert system overcomes the widely adopted methodologies mainly focused on the cost minimization only. These three independent goals are jointly included in a unique tool, called Food Distribution Planner, to support the tactical planning of multi-modal distribution networks of perishable produces.This expert system implements a three-objective linear programming model, considering the typical food distribution constraints, i.e. the food quality dependence on the delivery time, the geographically distributed market demand and the farmer production capacities.This paper further applies the proposed system to a real case study dealing with the distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables from a set of Italian producers to several European retailers. The most effective distribution network is studied best balancing the economic, environmental and delivery time objective functions. Such a tactical network planning leads to 9.6% CO2 emission reduction with 2.7% cost increase compared to the correspondent single-objective configurations. Finally, the delivery time allows no produce waste due to the food quality preservation during shipment.

A multicast delivery approach with minimum energy consumption for wireless multi-hop networks

Multicast delivery in wireless multi-hop networks has become the popular research topic and holds the important applications such as sensor and tactical networks. However, how to minimize multicast energy consumption and prolong the lifetime of multicast connection in wireless multi-hop networks with limited energy is a challenge at present. This paper presents a new approach to solve this problem by considering the cognitive ability of nodes. Above all, we exploit the directional reception antennas to propose a directional reception two-step reconstruction routing scheme to set up multicast tree for wireless multi-hop networks. Different from previous methods, we grant the cognitive ability to each node so that they can obtain the minimum transmission power by sensing, learning, acting, and deciding. We propose two algorithms to find the minimum transmission power of all the nodes in the multicast tree built above. And a global optimal multicast delivery algorithm with the minimum energy consumption is proposed to implement effective multicast communication for wireless multi-hop networks with energy limited. Numerical experiments show that the proposed approach can significantly improve the multicast performance of wireless multi-hop networks with energy limited such as the lifetime of multicast connection and transmission power.

Disruption Recovery for a Vessel in Liner Shipping

Container vessels in liner shipping are operated on closed-loop routes following a preannounced schedule. In practice, when a vessel embarks on a voyage on the sea, there are lots of uncertain factors that may delay a vessel from its original schedule, even if some uncertainty has been considered in the tactical network design. In this paper, we propose an operational-level solution to recover the disrupted schedule caused by a delay, where we consider different operational actions such as speeding up, port skipping, and port swapping. For the case where only speeding up is allowed, we approach the problem by nonlinear programming and obtain certain structural results of the optimal recovery schedule. It shows that speeding up can effectively handle a delay that is not too large. When there is a large delay, which may be called a major disruption, we study the problem with more options such as port skipping and swapping and develop dynamic programming algorithms on the discretized time space. We also provide a method to estimate a lower bound of the problem that enables us to evaluate the relative error caused by the discretized time space in dynamic programming. Numerical studies are conducted to validate our results and derive managerial insights.

Exploring value-of-information-based approaches to support effective communications in tactical networks

Tactical networking environments present many challenges in terms of bandwidth, latency, reliability, stability, and connectivity. Sensors can today generate very large data sets that exceed the ability of tactical networks to transfer and disseminate them in a timely manner. Furthermore, the desire to cover larger areas with persistent sensing capabilities, have resulted in the widescale deployment of inexpensive sensors, further widening the gap between the volume of information that is generated and the subset that can successfully be delivered to consumers. This article explores the notion of determining the value of information in order to prioritize and filter information that is disseminated over these tactical networks, focusing on the dissemination of information to and from dismounted soldiers in a battlefield environment. This is a promising approach to mitigate the constraints of tactical networks and to reduce information overload on soldiers.

Independent Authentication Protocol in Tactical Network Environment Using Hash Lock Approach

Independent Authentication Protocol in Tactical Network Environment Using Hash Lock Approach

전술 백본망에서 우선순위를 고려한 다중 경로 라우팅 방안

The tactical network is system based on wireless networking technologies that ties together surveillance reconnaissance systems, precision strike systems and command and control systems. Several alternative paths exist in the network because it is connected as a grid to improve its survivability. In addition, the network topology changes frequently as forces and combatants change their network access points while conducting operations. However, most Internet routing standards have been designed for use in stable backbone networks. Therefore, tactical networks may exhibit a deterioration in performance when these standards are implemented. In this paper, we propose Priority based Multi-Path routing with Local Optimization(PMPLO) for a tactical backbone network. The PMPLO separately manages the global and local metrics. The global metric propagates to other routers through the use of a routing protocol, and it is used for a multi-path configuration that is guaranteed to be loop free. The local metric reflects the link utilization that is used to find an alternate path when congestion occurs, and it is managed internally only within each router. It also produces traffic that has a high priority privilege when choosing the optimal path. Finally, we conducted a simulation to verify that the PMPLO can effectively distribute the user traffic among available routers.

통합 필터 변별도와 그래프 컬러링을 이용한 전술통신망 백본 무선 링크의 주파수 지정 방법

The tactical communications network has to be deployed rapidly at military operation area and support the communications between the military command systems and the weapon systems. For that, the frequency assignment is required for backbone wireless links of tactical communications network without frequency interferences. In this paper, we propose a frequency assignment method using net filter discrimination (NFD) and graph coloring to avoid frequency interferences. The proposed method presents frequency assignment problem of tactical communications network as vertex graph coloring problem of a weighted graph. And it makes frequency assignment sequences and assigns center frequencies to communication links according to the priority of communication links and graph coloring. The evaluation shows that this method can assign center frequencies to backbone communication links without frequency interferences. It also shows that the method can improve the frequency utilization in comparison with HTZ-warfare that is currently used by Korean Army.

무선 IP 네트워크에서 전용선 모뎀 사용가능성 검증

A leased line modem usability was evaluated and investigated in the wireless internet protocol(IP) network. The signal of the modem in the circuit switching network was translated to IP packet by using several voice codecs (PCM, G.711A, G.711μ, and etc.) and transmitted through the wireless IP network. The wireless IP network was simulated by the Tactical information and communication network Modeling and simulation Software(TMS). The performance and usability of the leased line modem are simulated using the system-in-the-loop(SITL) function of TMS with respect to packet delay, jitter, packet discard ratio, codecs, and wireless link BER.

Architecting Technology Transition Pathways: Insights from the Military Tactical Network Upgrade

As engineering systems become more and more complex, technology transition increasingly involves deploying an upgraded subsystem across a legacy network. This mode of upgrade presents new challenges for systems architects concerned with maintaining value over multiple infused technical changes. This paper explores the dynamics of technology transition in path-dependent infrastructure systems. It uses a model-based case study of the envisioned military airborne tactical network upgrade as a basis for developing guidelines for effective transition design. Based on the natural diffusion dynamics of the system we identified an inherent tradeoff between upgrade cycle and sustained capability levels. In other words, assuming even weakly exponential growth in demand, there is a relationship between timing of infusion and longevity of benefit. As a result, a less capable upgrade, deployed expediently can do more good than a more sophisticated upgrade that can only be integrated in the next block upgrade. In addition, by conceptualizing the transition path as a design lever, two dimensions of problem decomposition can be exploited to mitigate transition barriers: 1 self-contained subnetworks can provide a proving ground for full-system future benefits in order to mitigate stakeholder resistance; and 2 the technical system can be designed for evolvability, making it possible to stage deployment in the technical dimension as well.

Carrier Sense Random Packet CDMA Protocol in Dual-Channel Networks

Code resource wastage is caused by the reason that many hopping frequency (FH) sequences are unused, which occurs under the condition that the number of the actual subnets needed for the tactical network is far smaller than the networking capacity of code division net- working. Dual-channel network (DCN), consisting of one single control channel and multiple data channels, can solve the code resource wastage effectively. To improve the anti-jamming capability of the control channel of DCN, code division multiple access (CDMA) technology was introduced, and a carrier sense random packet (CSRP) CDMA protocol based on random packet CDMA (RP-CDMA) was proposed. In CSRP-CDMA, we provide a carrier sensing random packet mechanism and a packet-segment acknowledgement policy. Furthermore, an analytical model was developed to evaluate the per- formance of CSRP-CDMA networks. In this model, the im- pacts of multi-access interference from both inter-clusters and intra-clusters were analyzed, and the mathematical expressions of packet transmission success probability, normalized network throughput and signal interference to noise ratio, were also derived. Analytical and simulation results demonstrate that the normalized network through- put of CSRP-CDMA outperforms traditional RP-CDMA by 10%, which can guarantee the resource utilization efficiency of the control channel in DCNs.

Directional Advanced Intruder Handling Ad-hoc on Demand Distance Vector Protocol Using Divide and Conquer Strategy Implementation

The Aim of this study is to develop the protocol for identify the failure node, intruder node with power optimized routing protocol named Directional Advanced Intruder Handling Adhoc On demand Vector protocol. Mobile Ad-hoc Network is an infrastructure less network, nodes in mobile Ad-hoc are comprised to work with wireless nodes, can move freely and dynamically self organized in to arbitrary topologies. Over the past twenty years the development of Ad-hoc network was developed from tactical networks to Bluetooth, HyperLAN and IEEE 802.11. In the protocol stack of Ad-hoc network, the major issues on network layers, which has a responsibility to transfer the packets from one node to another. Many protocols have been proposed in Ad-hoc network, but none of the protocol is working under the principle of handling checking on packet delivery. This study presents the Directional Advanced Intruder Handling Ad-hoc on demand Vector protocol algorithm definition and implementation. The working principle of this protocol is checking the packet delivery to the destination. If any one of the nodes in the route is not forwarding the packet, that corresponding node will be identified and redirect the packet to the new route. For doing this checking this protocol uses divide and conquer strategy. The number hop between the source to destination is divided into two halves and check whether the up to the middle node the packet are flowing in a proper order or not. Recursively doing the divide and conquer of the route path, can identify the node which is not forward the packet to the next node. The design of this protocol itself able to identify the intruder in the routing path. Contains several stages from path discovery, packet transmits, apply divide and conquer strategy on route, identify the node which is not forward the packet, redirect the new path, alert all the nodes about the victim node. Finally performance of the protocol is improved with transmission in directional antennas.

Cross-Layer Design and Performance Analysis of Tactical Radio Networks

In this paper, we investigate the performance of tactical radio networks, particularly for communication scenarios where multihop relaying along with spatial reuse techniques are applied. The tactical scenarios of concern have a diverse range of reliability and/or delay requirements. We first employ cross-layer protocol architecture with integrated time-division-multiple-access-based fast packet forwarding and automatic-repeat-request-based multihop error control to support tactical applications with a diverse range of reliability and/or delay requirements. Then, we develop analytical models to study the link-level and network-wide behaviors of the tactical radio networks. The developed models capture the effects of end-to-end channel memory due to multihop relays, interference due to spatial reuse, uneven interslot delays due to fast packet forwarding, and jamming attack in hostile network environment. It is shown that the protocol architecture with proposed fast packet forwarding and multihop error control mechanisms can significantly improve communication performance and support delay-sensitive applications. In addition, it is demonstrated that cross-layer adaptivity, where different network environments require different logical topologies and radio modes, is needed to achieve best performance tradeoffs among throughput, efficiency, delivery ratio, and transport capacity.

Live Video Forensics: Source Identification in Lossy Wireless Networks

Video source identification is very important in validating video evidence, tracking down video piracy crimes, and regulating individual video sources. With the prevalence of wireless communication, wireless video cameras continue to replace their wired counterparts in security/surveillance systems and tactical networks. However, wirelessly streamed videos usually suffer from blocking and blurring due to inevitable packet loss in wireless transmissions. The existing source identification methods experience significant performance degradation or even fail to work when identifying videos with blocking and blurring. In this paper, we propose a method that is effective and efficient in identifying such wirelessly streamed videos. In addition, we also propose to incorporate wireless channel signatures and selective frame processing into source identification, which significantly improve the identification speed. We conduct extensive real-world experiments to validate our method. The results show that the source identification accuracy of the proposed scheme largely outperforms the existing methods in the presence of video blocking and blurring. Moreover, our method is able to identify the video source in a near-real-time fashion, which can be used to detect the wireless camera spoofing attack.

Quantitative Modeling of Trust and Trust Management Protocols in Next Generation Social Networks Based Wireless Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Trust and Trust Management represent the very foundations of Computer and Network Security Protocols enabling all cyber activities. Recent spate of national and global high-impact Cyber Security compromises, threats, vulnerabilities, and exposures leads to fundamental questioning of Trust as the key enabler of all cyber phenomena in the unfolding era of exponentially increasing Distrust. It is therefore necessary to understand the current state of Trust and Trust Management modeling and implementation in the most high security environments such as in Defense & Space. Such understanding can serve as a foundation for modeling, design, and implementation of next generation mobile wireless networks for other high security environments such as in Banking & Finance. This study attempts to understand how Trust and Trust Management are being modeled for the “next generation wireless communication systems” (NIST) such as autonomous self-discovering, self-organizing, and self-adaptive mobile ad hoc networks. Within the context of Network-Centric Operations (NCO), we examine: (i) the capabilities of next generation wireless mobile ad hoc networks; (ii) how trust and trust management are modeled in such mobile ad hoc networks; and, (iii) how trust and trust management are implemented in trust-based task assignment in tactical networks. US Army Research Lab (ARL) Computational and Information Sciences Directorate’s Network Science research program on wireless mobile ad hoc networks is the focus of our case study.

Tactical network planning for food aid distribution in Kenya

In Sub-Saharan Africa, annual weather patterns cause frequent and regular shocks which make the population more vulnerable to food insecurity. Countries are affected by periodic droughts between two irregular rainy seasons, which have a profound effect on seasonal food crises. This study is rooted in a food aid distribution problem arising in Kenya, but it can also be applied to other developing countries. Our aim is to design an effective last-mile food aid distribution network. We present location models to determine a set of distribution centers, where the food is directly distributed to the beneficiaries, for the region of Garissa in Kenya. Our models take into account the welfare of all stakeholders involved in the response system: the World Food Programme, the Kenya Red Cross, and the beneficiaries. We describe how we have combined need assessment and population data to plan food distribution in Garissa. We also show how we have used GIS data on the road network to establish a set of potential distribution centers. In addition to the results obtained by solving our primary model, we present several comparative analyses and variants of the basic covering model.

Research on Tactical Internet Real-Time Simulation for Training

Simulative training should include network simulation in information age, and network simulation needs to meet the real-time requirements. For the real-time implementation of Tactical Internet (TI) simulation, the paper proposed a "water-wave type" topology updating method for simulation, which solved the real-time problem of tactical radio network topology updating simulation. Secondly, the paper proposed a data packet transmission method based on characteristic information, which solved the large data problem of TI simulation, and then the real-time of simulation was improved. Finally, the paper proposed a transmission success-rate calculating method based on prediction, which solved the real-time simulation problem of transmission. The practical application proved that the paper’s methods had good effect.

이기종 전술통신망 종단간 암호화 통신을 위한 메커니즘

이기종 전술통신망 종단간 암호화 통신을 위한 메커니즘

Tradeoffs between trust and survivability for mission effectiveness in tactical networks.

In a military tactical network, maintaining trust among members in a mission group is critical to successful mission completion. However, maintaining high trust among group members in a resource-restricted tactical environment detrimentally reduces system lifetime, which may lead to mission failure or low mission effectiveness. In this paper, we aim to investigate the relationships between group trust and system lifetime [i.e., survivability measuring mean time to mission failure (MTTMF)] and to capture mission effectiveness achieved by the mission group based on the tradeoff between these two goals. We employ a composite trust capturing various angles of trust concept derived from communication, information, and social networks. We take a game theoretic approach using the so called Aoyagi's game theory, enforcing nodes to exhibit desirable behavior based on reward or penalty given by the system. In designing reward/penalty mechanisms, we adopt the concept of aspiration level, defining success or failure based on a goal set by the system, and prove there exists an optimal trust threshold maximizing both MTTMF (i.e., system lifetime/survivability) and group trust. We devised a mission effectiveness metric based on both the metrics having conflicting goals. We developed an analytical model using Stochastic Petri Nets, and validated the analytical results with simulation results. We conducted comparative performance analyzes of the variations of the proposed scheme with respect to a node's decision nature (i.e., rational versus altruistic) and trust threshold policy (static versus dynamic) in resource-constrained tactical environments.