Context Aware Routing Management Architecture for Airborne Networks

This thesis advocates the use of Kalman filters in conjunction with network topology information derived from the Air Tasking Order (ATO) during the planning phase for military missions. This approach is the basis for an algorithm that implements network controls that optimize network performance for Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANET). The trajectories of relevant nodes (airborne platforms) participating in the MANET can be forecasted by parsing key information contained in the ATO. This information is used to develop optimum network routes that can significantly improve MANET performance. Improved MANET performance in the battlefield enables decision makers to access information from several sensors that can summarize mission execution status real-time. In one simulated test case there was a 25% percent improvement of network throughput, and 23% reduction on dropped packets. Using this technique we can selectively preserve the Quality of Service (QoS) by establishing network controls that drops low priority packets when necessary. The algorithm improves the overall MANET throughput while minimizing the packets dropped due to network congestion