Collective C2 in Multinational Civil-military Operation International Command & Control Research and Technology Symposium an Agent-based Model Simulation of Multiple Collaborating Mobile Ad Hoc an Agent-based Model Simulation of Multiple Collaborating Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (manet)

The paper presents a preliminary result of using cognitiveand behavior-based modeling framework to simulate a network of MANETs (Mobile Adhoc NETworks) as intelligent agents in a tactical battlefield. We demonstrate the efficacies of an agent-based modeling and the need for developing formal methods for multi-agent simulations from a system of systems (SoS) perspective. The development of our model framework informs the need to describe behaviors and relationships of actors and objects in the context of a mission space, and 2) to provide a foundation for modeling agent behaviors in a way that is plausible with respect to human behavior, a specially from the standpoint of humansystem interactions. 1.0. The surge in the human dependency on Mobile Ad hoc NETworks (MANET) in various task scenarios (battlefield, emergency response, social network, etc.) is growing exponentially. For example, modern battle command is populated with network-centric physical assets; predominant among these are constellations of MANETs that are used to aid tactical, collaborative communications during real-time battlefield operations. MANETs represent a class of battlefield tactical communication networks that are highly mobile and adaptive with respect to applications. MANETs support robust and efficient battlefield operations, routing, communicating, and distributing information functionalities across their mobile nodes. Introduction Stations in MANETs are usually laptops, Personal digital Assistants (PDAs) or mobile phones. These devices feature Bluetooth and/or IEEE 802.11 (WiFi) network interfaces and communicate in a decentralized manner. Mobility is a key feature of MANETs. Because of their high cost and the lack of flexibility of such networks, experimentation is mostly achieved through simulation. In the operational environment, MANETs are vulnerable to enemy attacks, failures caused by engineering devices, and occasional degradation due to technology. All these factors require that some enabling tools be developed to support an effective fielding of MANETs for command and control (C2) purposes. It also requires that engineering analysis be conducted to monitor performance over time. Metrics of performance may include vulnerability, resiliency, reliability, trust between users, trust in MANETs, and so on. MANETs constitute a special class of networks that embrace humans and machines, leading to what may be described as cognitive socio-technical systems (CSTS). This increases the complexities involved how interactions occur in systems: human-human, human-machine, or machine-machines. These qualities demand that MANETs be designed to acquire certain human traits similar to how human interact and behave in dynamic task situations. This is the motivating factor for considering agent models for MANETs. This consideration forces us to look at important human traits such as perception, cognition, behavior, collaboration, and team work. Our agent-based simulation model incorporates these characteristics. Consider a simplified battlefield tactical communication networks shown in Figure 1. We may need to know how agents perceive the environment based on MANET information load (voice, data, voice + data); how humans make decision based on the tactical requirements and supported by MANET; how multiple humans and multiple MANET users interact; and how such interactions enable performance. Answers to these perceptual, cognitive, social, and behavior questions lead to our interest in embodied definitions of specialized cognitive agents for human-mobile network interaction. It is possible to discover new behaviors as a result of many interacting agent behaviors. 2. Intelligent Agents Figure 1. A simplified MANET topology. Intelligent agents can then be defined as a human or a MANET device that can recognize its environment information, make sense of the context, perform plausible reasoning, and decide on courses of action while collaborating with other agents. In the battlefield environment, the agents should be able to predict the enemy states and plan courses of action to minimize the MANET vulnerability during operations. In concert with these assertions, our agent concept is to develop methods for understanding how MANET operators exploit information in opportunistic domains with adaptive and dynamic windows of decision opportunities; study how agent interactions between MANET and humans, human and human, or MANET to MANET nodes, orchestrate coping strategies during unexpected attacks, uncertainties, information sharing, and how they collaborate to redefine new goals during system agitation states. Table 1 gives an anectodal view of some of the methods for collaboration by agents. Table 1: Possible agent collaboration modalities