ROBOTIC VEHICLE COMMUNICATIONS CONTROLLER

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES AN APPROACH FOR A ROBOTIC VEHICLE COMMUNICATIONS CONTROLLER MEETING THE SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT REQUIREMENTS. IT FOCUSES ON THE MESSAGE PROCESSING ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM AND SHOWS HOW EXPERT SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY CAN BE APPLIED. THE PROPOSED EXPERT SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A DATABASE OF OPERATIONAL AND SITUATIONAL PARAMETERS THAT DESCRIBE THE STATE OF THE RV SYSTEM. THE EXPERT SYSTEM THAN APPLIED A SET OF RULES (KNOWLEDGE BASE), DRIVEN BY THE DATABASE, THAT INVOKE SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER ACTIONS (EG. ADJUSTING MESSAGE PRIORITY THRESHOLDS OR RADIO TRANSMIT POWER LEVELS). THE PROPOSAL DISCUSSES KEY OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS THAT INFLUENCE COMM CONTROL RESPONSES, AND INCLUDES A LIST OF CANDIDATE ACTIONS AND ASSOCIATED EFFECTS ON COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE. THE PROPOSED WORK BUILDS ON VIA-SAT'S SOLID EXPERT SYSTEM EXPERIENCE DERIVED FROM LARGE DOD COMPUTER AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS. THE PROPOSED PHASE I WORK BUILDS ON AN EXISTING VIA-SAT EXPERT SYSTEM TOOL FOR MODELING COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM. IN ADDITION TO THE EXPERT SYSTEM ASPECTS, THE PROPOSAL CONSIDERS IMPORTANT RELATED RV COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS ISSUES, INCLUDING JAM RESISTANCE, ADDRESSING, ROUTING, USE OF MULTIPLE TRANSMISSION MEDIA, AND SECURITY. THE PROPOSAL INCLUDES SPECIFIC TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES, PROPOSED TASKS, A SCHEDULE, AND DISCUSSION OF RELATED VIA-SAT WORK, INCLUDING EXPERT SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATION NETWORK DESIGN AND SIMULATION TOOLS.