Simulation of an air defense radio protocol

We employ SES/workbench to model and simulate a Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) Network protocol for a single channel Air Defense radio. Using the SES/workbench radio model, we obtain the mean delay of a launch command message as a function of the launch rate and the size of the launcher net, under both errorless and error channel conditions. To validate the SES/workbench model, we develop the Pollaczek-Khinchin (P-K) formula and compare the theoretical (P-K) results with the SES/workbench simulation results. The results are found to be in excellent agreement. Like the SES/workbench model, the P-K formula provides quick estimates of the mean launch command delay as a function of the protocol parameters, such as the message size, the acknowledgment hold time, and the time between transmit and receive. This work assesses the ability of the protocol to handle, for a launch rate related to an air defense scenario and a maximum delay in a launch command, the maximum number of launchers in an air defense launcher net. It also demonstrates the utility of commercial tools such as SES/workbench in modeling and simulation of communication protocol for air and space applications.