Tactical Network Connectivity Planning

Tactical Network Connectivity Planning (TNCP) is needed for analysis of tactical ground forces communications. A Tactical Edge Network Emulation Tool (TENET) has been developed for such analysis. The tool provides network connectivity based on radio communication range and Line of Sight (LOS) using Digitized Terrain Elevation Data (DTED). The analysis should be done for network and force lay down planning in specific theaters, operational scenarios, and combinations of node types. We show the importance of optimizing certain communication nodes by tasking for strategic placement of ground and airborne nodes to improve network connectivity and restorability. Strategic placement of gateway or relay nodes can make a big impact in reducing the network cost and maximizing the performance. In this paper, network connectivity is reported as a function of nodes lay down and various network and the communication node specific parameters. Results show the sensitivity of network connectivity to network size, antenna height, radio range, connectivity of airborne nodes and other parameters. The paper discusses several novel approaches and algorithms to expedite the computation times for complex tactical networks with several hundred nodes in terrain described by high resolution DTED.