Providing Full Connectivity in Large Ad-Hoc Networks by Dynamic Placement of Aerial Platforms

In this paper we address the problem of providing full connectivity to disconnected ground MANET nodes by dynamically placing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to act as relay nodes. We provide a heuristic algorithm to find the minimal number of such aerial vehicles required to provide full connectivity and find the corresponding locations for these aerial platforms (UAVs). We also track the movement of the ground nodes and update the location of the UAVs. We describe a communication framework that enables the ground nodes to communicate with its peer ground nodes as well as the UAVs that act as relay nodes. The communication architecture is designed to work with existing MANET routing protocols.