MODELING GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM POSITIONAL ERROR EFFECTS ON GEOGRAPHIC ROUTING PROTOCOLS

Abstract

Recent work on geographic routing protocols has shown that Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Position Navigation and Timing (PNT) positional error directly affects message delivery rates (MDRs) within Delay and Disruption Tolerant Networks (DTNs). Although research within this area continues, optimization techniques and the potential facilitation of new protocols that are immune or are relatively impervious to PNT positional error have not been thoroughly explored, nor has their application been studied within the Department of Defense (DOD). Accuracy within DTNs, especially in urban and natural canyons, that is complementary with higher MDRs is a desirable characteristic for the warfighter operating in challenging environments. This thesis examines four geographic routing protocols, specifically looking at their current state, potential optimizations, and performance after artificially introducing PNT position error. Analysis of the results showed that certain geographic routing protocol performance metrics are drastically degraded when positional error is introduced, whereas others remain unaffected or were improved. Specifically, we observed a surprising result for certain protocols where performance was improved when PNT positional error was introduced.