VERBENA: Versatile Backpressure-Enabled Network Architecture

The Navy requires a reliable wireless networking capability that can continuously collect Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) data from vehicles at the tactical edge. A robust, automated CBM network could enable commanders and maintenance leaders to have a dashboard view of the health of their assets. Moreover, this network could also deliver Energy Command and Control (EC2) messages that provide the remaining fight status of vehicles. WPL, Inc. proposes to work with Silvus Technologies, Inc. and Lockheed Martin to develop, prototype, and demonstrate a network architecture for the autonomous collection of CBM and EC2 information. Our VERsatile Backpressure-Enabled Network Architecture (VERBENA) provides an autonomous publish-subscribe data collection service that is effective even in Disconnected, Intermittent, and Limited-bandwidth (DIL) environments. VERBENA can be implemented at the Data Link and Networking Layer of a standalone mobile ad hoc network or at the Application Layer of an existing tactical communications network.