Centrally Controlled Dynamic Spectrum Access for MANETs

In this paper, we describe an approach to address increased demand for spectrum access associated with widespread deployment of Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANETs) in a military environment. Our solution is an approach that we call "MANET Real-Time Frequency Management" (MRFM) that uses centralized control to achieve deconfliction with the background Electromagnetic Environment (EME) and among the mobile MANETs. Our approach automates frequency reuse among MANETs and automates MANET spectrum sharing with background systems using a centralized reasoner and control mechanism. Our system, which runs as an external application, collects MANET radio state information in real time, applies spectrum policies, performs spectrum deconfliction and controls the frequencies used by the MANET remotely. Our approach does not require any modifications to the radio physical, media access or link layer protocols (the "waveform"). The use of our system provides an expedient approach to enable Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) capabilities to MANET radios that currently do not have such capabilities without requiring modifications to the radio waveform or the radio itself. To validate the MRFM concept, we implemented MRFM in a prototype system that was successfully demonstrated in several tests.