Dissemination of Geographic Location Data in Low Bandwidth Radio Networks

Sammanfattning: On the battlefield, having accurate positions of allied troops is crucial for making effective decisions. However, obtaining this information can be challenging, particularly outside of one's own battalion network. This research focuses on developing and evaluating methods for disseminating digital geographic position data between different interconnected radio networks in a military context. The radio networks in question are ad hoc networks that use a Wide Band Waveform (WBWF) as their communication waveform. The objective is to transfer position data between networks without overloading them. The networks have a limited bandwidth and it's shared among all nodes belonging to the network. A node is a unit with a radio at hand that can communicate with other similar configured radios. To allow networks to communicate with each other, some nodes, called gateway nodes, are geared with a second radio. The second radio is used to communicate with other nearby battalions. Protocols and algorithms can use these gateway nodes to transfer data between different networks. The research evaluates two methods, one is based on Simplified Multicast Forwarding (SMF) combined with Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) and the other is a self-developed algorithm called Gateway Node Election (GNE) algorithm. The GNE algorithm gives control to the gateway nodes, allowing for more selective transmission of position data between different networks. To evaluate the performance of methods this thesis uses a simulation tool called Aquarius to measure the performance of the methods in various scenarios, including bandwidth usage and message age. The result shows that the GNE algorithm, compared to SMF, uses less network bandwidth and it's a more robust solution since it gives redundancy by transmitting packets again if they weren't received. The findings of this research will contribute to improving the dissemination of critical information among different radio networks in a military context.