SDN in Heterogeneous Mobile Tactical Networks

Abstract

Military operations are increasingly dependent on networks and transferring of data. A heterogeneous mobile tactical network, is a complex network with dynamic characteristics used during military operations. In the field, resources are scarce, and the network can quickly get congested. To optimize the network to efficiently route traffic and handle prioritized data, a method offering fine grained control of the network would be beneficial. Software Defined Networking (SDN) has proven to facilitate granular control for several types of networks. This thesis looks at how SDN can be incorporated and used in a heterogeneous mobile tactical network. It states that the first step towards an SDN network is to build topology for the network. Three conceptual models are discussed, and an approach where topology is collected from a local legacy router is implemented.