CentAir: Centrality Based Cross Layer Routing for Software-Defined Aerial Networks

Application domain of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) expands every day. Multiple of these devices can simply be put together to form versatile and powerful Mobile ad hoc Networks (MANETs). Unfortunately, the existing protocols suffer to maintain efficient routes and channel assignments in such dynamic environments, where network topology and channel characteristic are prone to constant changes. In this paper, we propose a cross-layer protocol, utilizing well-known path finding algorithm, D∗ Lite, to achieve joint optimization of routing and dynamic channel assignment in software-defined aerial networks. Our protocol, CentAir, first uses graph centrality measures to adjust transmit power of the central nodes to both reduce interference rate and congestion around the central nodes. Then, it determines which channel to utilize along the path while taking the estimated collision probabilities into account. Our extensive simulation results show that CentAir provides 132% better channel capacity with the cost of 3% longer paths on e2e routes compared to traditional shortest path routing algorithms with random channel assignments.