Improving Tactical Voice Communications using Cooperative Broadcast over a Narrowband Channel

Effective command and control on the battlefield requires robust voice communications. Single-hop combat-net radios operating on narrowband channels are typically used to provide push-to-talk voice communications. For a battalion operating over large areas, maintaining reliable communication using single-hop radios is challenging and may require manually placed, dedicated radio relays. In this paper, it is shown how a multi-hop protocol based on cooperative broadcast can be used for providing more robust and resource-efficient narrowband voice communications. Cooperative broadcast for tactical voice communications is evaluated in a realistic scenario using network simulations. The results show that the multi-hop protocol provides great improvements in terms of robustness and resource efficiency compared to the single-hop system.