Tactical Wireless Ground Sensor Network Deployment and Maintenance System

We propose to develop a tool for deployment planning, real-time monitoring and maintenance of tactical wireless ground sensor networks. The tool takes into account the environment (terrain, foliage, buildings, roads, and weather), sensor performance, RF propagation, waveform characteristics, and radio performance to achieve sensing and communication mission objectives. The tool determines placement and the minimum number of sensor/relay nodes needed to meet coverage requirements while meeting constraints, and optimizes sensor network power and battery life by taking into account power management, received signal strength, waveform data rates, and data routing. The planning algorithms employ an iterative approach which utilizes A* search for coarse localization and combinatorial optimization for final location fine-tuning. The algorithms account for real equipment constraints (e.g., non-omni-directional sensors, scanning sensors, radar minimum detectable velocity, and network signal strength) and optimize heterogeneous sensor sets with multiple sensor modalities, providing accurate and timely results. During Phase I we developed a prototype and demonstrated network planning. In Phase II, we will enhance the planning algorithms, incorporate real-time monitoring and maintenance, and port the capability to a tablet device and web service application. We will also perform live test of system to validate performance and accuracy of the system.