COCOON: Coordination and Cooperation in Operational Networks

Tactical networks face congested and contested environments characterized by intermittent connectivity due to severe jamming and interference conditions. In addition, tactical radios are limited by different levels of resources such as energy (battery lifetime), computation (processing power), and communication (range and bandwidth). Effective coordination and cooperation between agents (namely, network nodes) is necessary to manage information flows and satisfy the requirements of tactical communications. As tactical networks need to cover large areas (e.g., brigade size), they need self-organizing, self-healing and self-optimization capabilities such that nodes join, leave, and rejoin the network without manual intervention, links are repaired and rerouted autonomously, network and radio resources are utilized efficiently, and anti-jamming modes, e.g., low probability of detection/interception (LPD/LPI), are realized in a timely manner. IAI will address these challenges with the design and implementation of Coordination and Cooperation in Operational Networks (COCOON). COCOON is a resource-aware methodology to enable coordination and cooperation in a tactical mobile ad hoc network (MANET) that operates in congested and contested environments. Protocols of COCOON are based on a strong analytical foundation and will be verified through realistic simulations and emulation tests with real radios.