RETAIN: Resilient and Self-Healing Protocol Stack for Directional Tactical Mesh Networks

Resilient and self-healing airborne networking provides the essential communication platform for effective information exchange among warfighters to successfully collaborate and execute missions. Moreover, communication over THz band is promising to support high data rate for airborne military applications such as 3D image scanning, augmented reality, and virtual reality. However, airborne communications suffer from high mobility and therefore airborne network communications are highly dynamic. Furthermore, the THz channel has unique characteristics that need to be considered in order to support communications over the THz. To this end, IAI proposes the design of RETAIN: Resilient and Self-Healing Protocol Stack for Directional Terahertz Tactical Mesh Networks. The proposed RETAIN system will comprise a set of link and network layer protocols that will enable and support THz communications for airborne networks. IAI will extensively evaluate the proposed protocols and develop a prototype to demonstrate the developed system.