Dynamic relay node selection scheme for multi-hop time synchronization in Link-16

Link-16 is a widely used tactical data link system for battlefield networks. A key component of Link-16 is network time synchronization. Link-16 provides two types of time synchronization methods: global positioning system (GPS)-based time synchronization and GPS-less time synchronization. In particular, Link-16 requires relay nodes for multi-hop time synchronization. However, in Link-16, the relay nodes are selected statically before the network begins, which inhibits direct communication from incoming nodes; therefore, time synchronization fails. In this paper, we propose a new dynamic relay node selection scheme for multi-hop time synchronization in Link-16. Thus, all nodes can be dynamically identified as relay nodes for new incoming nodes. Consequently, if a new incoming node connects to any registered node, time synchronization can be achieved. Simulation results show that our proposed scheme outperforms Link-16, regardless of the number of round trip time slots or the failure probability.