Connectivity Tracking Methods for a Network of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The communication links shared among a team of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be represented as a Laplacian matrix. The second smallest eigenvalue of the matrix, known as algebraic connectivity, is a metric typically used to measure the connectivity of UAVs. Algebraic connectivity represents the robustness of the communication network. For an increasing number of UAV applications, varying levels of connectivity at different points throughout the duration of a mission are needed to meet operational requirements. Thus, the ability to track and obtain a desired connectivity profile over the course of a mission is critical. This work compares four different methods for increasing or decreasing the connectivity for a team of UAVs by adding or removing communication links between UAVs. A connectivity tracking algorithm was developed using these methods to track a profile of varying connectivity over time and an analysis of the results is provided.

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