Controlling connectivity of a clustered mobile communication network

The mobile communication network studied here consists of a group of agents which move in response to external commands to perform a data-gathering task. Connectivity of the network may be disrupted as these uncontrolled agents move out of communication range, preventing transmission of the gathered data. This paper describes an approach to controlling connectivity of a clustered mobile communication network by using a second network of controlled agents which are responsible for data aggregation, message forwarding, and maintenance of network connectivity. Higher Order Sliding Mode (HOSM) observers are used to reconstruct the external commands to the uncontrolled agents, from which their future positions are predicted on a certain time window. When a disruption of network connectivity is predicted and reclustering is accomplished, a controlled agent is moved, by means of HOSM controllers, to the Chebyshev centers of the clusters to prevent that disruption. An intact communication network is thus constantly reconfigured by the reclustering and movement of controlled agents.