Cross-layer UAV network routing protocol for spectrum denial environments

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which connect to one another over wireless networks, are being used in warfare more frequently. Nevertheless, adversarial interference has the potential to disrupt wireless communication, and the UAV routing methods in use today struggle to handle interference. In this paper, we propose a Cross-Layer UAV Link State Routing protocol, CLUN-LSR, to combat against jamming attacks. CLUN-LSR features three designs. First, it obtains real-time spectrum status from the link layer. Such capabilities are provided by many existing radios, especially the ones in military applications, but are ignored by traditional routing protocols. Second, based on the cross-layer information, CLUN-LSR adds efficient routing functions during routing, including the use of the number of two-hop neighbor nodes as a metric for route selection. Third, CLUN-LSR selects nodes that are not in the interference area, thereby reducing network interruptions and improving data transmission efficiency. All table-driven routing protocols can apply CLUN-LSR for better performance. We apply CLUN-LSR to the existing routing protocol MP-OLSR and simulate it using a commercial network simulator. Simulation results show that our innovative routing protocol demonstrates superior performance compared to existing table-driven routing methods, particularly in terms of packet transmission rate and overall throughput.