Autonomy and self-organisation for tactical communications and range extension

During operations, networks are typically analysed in terms of metrics such as throughput, delay and connectivity. Analysis and optimisations can be carried out on these metrics to achieve better networks; however, such approaches rely on strong processing power and a substantial amount of data collection. This may pose a problem as processing power is related to the cost of the platform, and data collection is a substantial overhead in the bandwidth constrained tactical space. This paper examines self organisational rules which operate without the passing of large amounts of data or the need for optimisation. These rules are shown to produce emergent behaviours which may be applicable to Military operations. Applicability to the fields of logistics, sensor networks, surveillance and range extension is discussed. Simulations yield encouraging results when self organising techniques are implemented to provide range extension.