Small unmanned aircraft (UA) are an ideal addition to mobile ad hoc networking. An ad hoc network allows any two nodes to communicate either directly or through an arbitrary number of other nodes that act as relays. Ad hoc networks that include UA improve traditional ground-based networking through the added connectivity provided by the more prominent UA. The networking also extends the operational scope of the overall Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) beyond the limits of point-to-point and centralized communication architectures. As well, the ad hoc network increases the UAS operational range as communication can be extended across the set of networked UA and ground nodes. While these capabilities support a wide variety of applications, little prior work has fielded and tested the capabilities of such a system in practice. This chapter describes the implementation of a wireless mobile ad hoc network with radio nodes mounted at fixed sites, on ground vehicles, and in UA. The radio is an IEEE 802.11b/g (WiFi) wireless interface and is controlled by an embedded computer. The ad hoc routing protocol is an implementation of the Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol. A network monitoring architecture is embedded into the nodes for detailed performance analysis and characterization. The following sections describe the network components in detail and provide performance data measured at a large-scale outdoor test bed.

Introduction

Communication networks between and through aerial vehicles are a mainstay of current battlefield communication.