Nature-inspired self-organisation in wireless communications networks

Abstract

An innovative technique for the assignment of frequencies in military combat net radio communications systems is presented. A defined frequency allotment, together with the frequency separations required when stations of different nets are in close physical proximity, gives rise to a complex combinatorial problem, which the assignment algorithms aim to solve. This work seeks an alternative to centralised algorithms, including recently introduced metaheuristics, by using a method based on the self-organising behaviour of cells in a developing fruit fly. Since the method involves a software element representing each net, which interact in a self-organising manner, it has a clear potential for the distribution of the process over a network of processing elements. The demonstrated ability of the algorithm to re-optimise following changes to the network configuration is thought to be a valuable feature in this context, which would be difficult to introduce explicitly using conventional techniques. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004.