Design Of MAC Layer Transmission Model For Data Link For QualNet

The Tactical Data Link,known as Link in NATO and TADIL in the United States,is a kind of standard communication link for transmitting machine-readable tactical digital information.However,with the higher complexity of the transmission system,the traditional method such as theoretical analysis and physical test has been difficult to satisfy the requirement of tactical data link’s research and test.Thus,the computer simulation,which is efficient,high fidelity,and low-cost for technical parameters acquisition,system performance evaluation,and network performance optimization,has been widely considered in many related research areas.Additionally,the core function of the tactical data link is to solve how the network members in the data link system are assigned to occupy the wireless channel effectively and equitably,which depends mainly on the design and implementation of the network protocol.Therefore,it is very important to design the simulation model of the MAC layer protocol for the tactical data link.In this paper,According to their technical characteristics,we used the QualNet simulator to model and simulate the data links.Firstly,we proposed a data link modeling method of Media Access Control(MAC)layer based on QualNet discrete event simulation mechanism.Then,according to the MAC layer transmission characteristics of Link11 and16,two MAC layer protocols for QualNet were designed and implemented.The Link11 model simulates the typical polling operation,in which polling,sending and receiving data,and timeout retransmission mechanisms are considered.Meanwhile,the Link16 model works in a TDMA mode and can perform sending and receiving data based on the time slot configuration,frequency hopping pattern,NPG configuration,and the other functions.Secondly,based on the Qt software,the data link radio interface was designed and implemented,which can directly display the model and provide a better user experience.Finally,the developed models are tested by the intension experiments,and the results demonstrate that the developed MAC protocol for Link 11 and 16,as well as the interaction interface are efficient.The research of this work is beneficial for the future performance evaluation of data link network.