Collaborative Research: Fundamental Optimization Problems in Airborne Network Design and Application

机载网络可用于在航空航天器、移动平台和地面站之间传输飞行器状态信息，以提高各种航空运输系统的飞行安全性、效率和安全性。机载网络的运行和设计的基础是车辆状态信息的有效传播，有效利用可用的无线电频谱进行数据传输，以及跨网络的最佳决策问题。本研究旨在为这些问题中的一些基本优化问题建立理论基础，为机载网络的有效信息传播，研究将集中在选择飞机作为信息中心，为其他飞机提供信息。信息中心的合理选择要求服务成本最小化，或/和服务时间有界。为了在机载网络中有效使用无线电频谱，该项目探讨了通过适当分配信道进行活动传输来实现频率重用的可能性。所提出的研究将成功地解决隐藏终端问题和暴露终端问题。最后，对于跨机载网络的分布式优化决策，该项目强调适当的建模和车辆动力学，通信链路性能能力的相互作用，以及分布式优化的数值方案。此外，还计划开展一系列教育活动，以使该项目对网络研究界和教室产生影响。

Airborne networks can be used to transmit vehicle state information among aerospace vehicles, moving platforms, and ground stations for enhancing flight safety, efficiency, and security in a wide range of air transportation systems. Fundamental to the operation and design of airborne networks are issues on the effective dissemination of vehicle state information, efficient use of available radio spectrum for data transmission, and optimal decision-making across the networks. This research project seeks to establish theoretical foundations for some fundamental optimization problems in these issues.For the effective information dissemination across airborne networks, the research will focus on the selection of aircraft as information centers that provide information for other aircraft. The proper selection of information centers requires that the service cost be minimized, or/and the service time be bounded. For the efficient use of radio spectrum in airborne networks, the project explores the possibility of frequency reuse by properly assigning channels to active transmissions. The proposed research will successfully solve both the hidden terminal problem and the exposed terminal problem. Finally, for the distributed optimal decision-making across airborne networks, the project emphasizes proper modeling and the interplay of vehicle dynamics, communication link performance capabilities, as well as numerical schemes for distributed optimization. In addition, a series of educational activities are planned in order to bring the impacts of this project to the networking research community and classrooms.