Reliable Metrics and Deployment Issues of Tactical ad-hoc Networks

The mobile tactical network (MTN) utilized for wireless military communications networks are classified as MANETS. Modern tactical communication systems are highly heterogeneous dynamic networks interconnecting many different types of users. Involving personnel, vehicles, sensors, devices and other connected equipment, the users have vastly different communication requirements while co-existing in smaller or larger geographical proximity. Unlike their commercial counterparts, MTNs pose unique characteristics with restricted bandwidth. Thus, the commercial vendors of ICT equipment do not have sufficient experience or capabilities to deliver military grade products. Rather, modification of commercial product by the original providers or third-party vendors to meet the battlefield requirements is frequently common. Comprehensive comparison of the performance and design characteristics of the commercial MANETs and their military counterparts was carried out using NS2 simulations. It was found that for scenarios requiring long-range connectivity, hierarchical routing protocols give the most accurate performance predictions for MTNs. Further, it is necessary to consider the sizes of various military units, different topology area size, warfighting platforms and combat mission types. Finally, it is argued that many commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies can be adopted for their use in MTNs, even though it requires a lot of additional efforts to overcome challenges not considered by the commercial solutions.