Optimized group communication for tactical military networks

In tactical networks there is a need for group communication applications, such as position and information sharing (Situational Awareness data), and Push-to-Talk (PTT) voice communication. This paper focuses on group communication in tactical military ad hoc networks, where most of the nodes are interested receivers. In this case, an efficient flooding protocol will be the best solution for the group communication. Efficient flooding can be achieved with the Simplified Multicast Forwarding (SMF) framework. The performance of SMF depends on the chosen forwarding algorithm. Two plausible alternatives are S-MPR and NS-MPR. The former is the more bandwidth efficient, while the latter is more robust to mobility. This paper investigates the limitations of the forwarding algorithms and investigates measures to mend S-MPR´s mobility problem. Further, the paper suggests combining S-MPR and NS-MPR using the radio load as metric. Finally, the PTT and Situational Awareness (SA) traffic types are evaluated when run simultaneously, and a preemptive switch to S-MPR is proposed for the SA traffic. Through employing the methods suggested in this paper, the performance for PTT and SA traffic forwarded using SMF in tactical military networks can be increased.