By Humayun Bakht
Mobile ad-hoc networks have been a focal point in technology for over a decade. The main attraction is the ease of deployment, especially in situations where there isn't a supporting infrastructure present. Where there are good numbers of application areas using mobile ad-hoc networks, supporting combat operations using mobile ad-hoc networks is of great importance.
How mobile ad-hoc networks can assist various combat operations is an interesting and challenging issue. In comparison with other application areas, in a military scenario with a hostile environment, there are more factors to take into account, as the military operation would have higher security requirements. Due to the radio propagation range in mobile ad-hoc networks, a mobile node can physically change its location in the network and can be in and out of reach to the other nodes in the same network.
In order to make the network functioning efficiently, every node must function as a router. Every node must not only send and receive packets, but also act as a relay station for the packets on their way to their final destination.
To achieve a better network throughput, the routing has to be reliable and accurate, therefore the adopted routing mechanism must also be able to cope with other issues concerning bandwidth, power consumption and radio range.
Another important factor is the security which should be dealt with at an appropriate level. In other words, the security mechanism should be able to protect the information sent across the network. This information shouldn't be altered or read by unauthorized persons. Consider a scenario of soldiers moving across a hostile environment. During their movement, the communication between the groups is done with the mobile ad-hoc networks.
First of all, because of the need for information security, this communication must be protected against all possible security threats. Moreover, the possibility of sudden changes such as engaging enemies in combat shouldn't disturb the communication and the communication should be maintained at all the times. These aspects are very hard to combine in mobile ad-hoc networks.
There are many reasons why military networks are the most complex ad-hoc networks to handle, especially when it comes to mobility management and mobile communication. After all, if the enemy can stop the communications, the enemy can achieve many advantages. Moreover, there are some other issues that are involved. Examples of some of these issues are trust models, how to deal with the level of trust and compromised nodes, quality of service control, radio power usage restrictions, and battery life of the participating devices.
