Cross-layer architectural framework for highly-mobile multihop airborne telemetry networks

Abstract

Highly dynamic mobile wireless networks present unique challenges to end-to-end communication, particularly caused by the time varying connectivity of high-velocity nodes combined with the unreliability of the wireless communication channel. Addressing these challenges requires the design of new protocols and mechanisms specific to this environment. Our research explores the tradeoffs in the location of functionality such as error control and location management for high-velocity multihop airborne sensor networks and presents cross-layer optimizations between the MAC, link, network, and transport layers to enable a domain specific network architecture, which provides high reliability for telemetry applications. We have designed new transport, network, and routing protocols for this environment: TCP-friendly AeroTP, IP-compatible AeroNP, and AeroRP, and show significant performance improvement over the traditional TCP/IP/MANET protocol stack.