Analytical support for MANET internetworks from war game data

Abstract

There have been many studies in recent years reporting the performance and survivability of mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs). These studies invariably consider the network as covering a relatively small geographic area. However, in many crises, such as may occur during disaster relief and military operations, a wide geographic area may require network coverage. In these circumstances, the infrastructure free mobile wireless communications features of MANETs may be critical in forming a satisfactory network. Given transmission range limitations within current MANET proposals, it is likely that providing network coverage to a wide geographic area would be problematic. This paper presents the results of a study on clustering in the spatial distribution of communication nodes. A realistic environment (e.g. topography and organisational limitations) and operating procedures are introduced through the use of the results of war games. The spatial distribution of nodes is used as the basis for MANET internetwork topology generation.