Data exfiltration from sensor networks subject to delay, connectivity and frequency re-use constraints

There has been extensive research on clustering techniques, routing protocols, sleep-mode protocols and adaptive power control algorithms for unattended ground-based sensor (UGS) networks. That previous work has mainly focused on energy-efficient operation and improved system lifetimes. This paper instead examines the problem of exfiltrating data from a large, self-forming UGS network via multiple, parallel SATCOM channels subject to the following operational and design constraints. The delay constraints for the bulk-data upload preclude the use of one central exfiltration point, so that a clusterhead based approach is required. However, the available RF spectrum requires the assignment of non-overlapping frequency/time-slot/code assignments to each pair of adjacent clusters. Results are presented based on both graph-theoretic and analytical approaches