KEYWORDS: Sensors, Relays, Unattended ground sensors, Telecommunications, Receivers, Sensor networks, Network architectures, Global Positioning System, Data communications, Control systems
Unattended ground sensor systems (UGS) have become an important part of a covert monitoring arsenal in operations
throughout the world. With the increased use of unattended ground sensor systems, there is a need to develop
communication architectures that allow the systems to have simple emplacement procedures, have a long mission life,
and be difficult to detect. Current ad-hoc networking schemes use either a network beacon, extensive preambles, or
guaranteed time synchronization to achieve reliable communications. When used in wireless sensor systems many of
these schemes waste power through unnecessary transmissions. These schemes compromise the covert nature of UGS
through excess transmissions for a non-beaconed network or the periodic beaconing in a beaconed network. These
factors are detrimental to sensor systems, which chiefly rely on being covert and low-power. This paper discusses a nonarbitrated,
non-GPS synchronized, beaconless approach to discovering, joining, and reliably transmitting and receiving
in a low-power ad-hoc wireless sensor network. This solution is capable of performing network discovery upon demand
to get an initial alignment with other nodes in the network. Once aligned, end points maintain alignment and can predict
when other nodes will be available to listen.
Sensor networks are emplaced throughout the world to remotely track activity. Typically, these sensors report data such
as target direction or target classification. This information is reported to a personnel-based monitor or a command and
control center. The ideal sensor system will have a long mission life capability and will report information-rich
actionable intelligence with high data integrity at near real-time latency. This paper discusses a multi-layered approach
that includes data fusion at the Sensor Node, Sensor Field, and Command and Control Center Layer to create cohesive
reports that mitigate false alarms and multiple reports of the same target while providing accurate tracking data on a
situational awareness level. This approach is influenced by low-power architecture, and designed to maximize information density and reduce flooding of sensor networks.
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