Testing Unmanned Autonomous System Communications in a Live/Virtual/Constructive Environment

摘要

Test and evaluation (T&E) of unmanned autonomous systems (UAS) is a challenge for decision makers because of their complexity, network communication dependencies, and requirements for rapid deployment. Sandia National Laboratories has developed a live/virtual/constructive (LVC) T&E framework used to emulate live UAS while incorporating network communication effects between platforms within mission-specific virtual/constructive simulations. This framework possesses sufficient fidelity to support UAS decision making and measure performance based on system-of-system (SoS) contributions. In this framework constructive assets can affect and/or be affected by live and virtual assets via high-fidelity communications models and system-in-the-loop technologies: Using system-in-the-loop enables assessment of distributed communications that rely on wireless networks without deploying real wireless networks. Models of wireless assets and supporting platforms are included Along with real applications. Experimental results include simulated networks of commercial and military radios and demonstrate the importance of incorporating wireless communication network effects when evaluating distributed SoS operation.