Robust Network Design - Connectivity and Beyond.

摘要

One of the prevailing needs of the U.S. Air Force has been to utilize a heterogeneous set of physical links (RF, Optical/Laser and SATCOM), for interconnecting a set of terrestrial, space and highly mobile airborne platforms (satellites, aircrafts and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)) to form an Airborne Network (AN). Not only does this complex network involve a large set of heterogeneous resources, but also the operative environment of this network is highly dynamic. Thus, there has been a demand for new models to characterize, manage and quantify network performance under such diverse network operating conditions. The goal of this research project was to undertake an investigation into some of the fundamental issues underlying this operative environment that is essential for successful design, deployment and operation of such a complex network. In this respect, studies were conducted in the following four key interrelated topics: (i) the design of mobility patterns of airborne platforms to provide stable operating conditions, (ii) the design of networks that enable graceful performance degradation, (iii) the information transfer capacity of a dynamic heterogeneous airborne network, and (iv) routing performance in diverse network conditions.