.FLYINGHEAD WIRELESS INFRASTRUCTURE
.TITLE Group communication in combat operations using mobile ad-hoc networks
.AUTHOR Humayun Bakht
.SUMMARY In normal sense, mobile ad-hoc networks refer to the short term temporary networks which can be formed by two or mobile devices anywhere and anytime. These networks are one of the best choices for combat operations, as in most of the cases these operations run for a short interval of time. In this article, Contributing Editor Humayun Bakht will highlight combat operations in general, the use of mobile ad-hoc networks in these operations and the issues that are involved in establishing an effective group communication during combat operations utilizing mobile ad-hoc networks as a networking technology.
.DEPT
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.
These specific issues have a number of different requirements for routing protocols to aid routing during combat operations. The routing protocol should be able to send information through multiple paths to ensure the throughput of the network. In situations that demand a high quality of service, the protocol that can ensures the quality of the network is of great value.
Therefore, it becomes extremely crucial that the routing protocol must have the most desirable characteristics for the hostile environment. Likewise, the size of the network and the number of participating nodes in the network also play an important role and can affect almost every aspect of the choice of protocol characteristics. At present, a reactive protocol with multicast capabilities and a mesh-based structure could be a good choice to support routing during combat operations.
.BEGIN_KEEP
Supporting combat operations using mobile ad-hoc networks is an interesting aspect of mobile computing. In fact, the very existence of mobile ad-hoc networks were based on the idea of supporting different military operations.
It was back in 1970s when they were first implemented to assist in various combat operations. However, such operations now have many more requirements in the field of mobile ad-hoc networks than these networks normally meet in other applications areas.
.BIO
.END_KEEP
