EXPLORING MESH NETWORKS WITH INET RADIOS

Abstract

The integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry (iNET) radios provide a two-way telemetry link that interconnects the airborne instrumentation system with ground-based systems. This capability brings the flight test telemetry domain into the realm of the more classic mesh networks in a mobile ad-hoc environment. The underlying radio frequency (RF) communication protocols defined in the iNET standards support a variety of classic networking protocols. The scheduling algorithms between Link Managers and radios can operate as a collision network, like classic Ethernet. This paper describes the communication protocols and scheduling algorithms of the iNET radios, and it provides results of their use in a self-scheduling algorithm such as a classical token ring network.