Multi-Objective Network Synthesis for Dispersed Computing in Tactical Environments

Tactical operations like search and rescue or surveillance necessitate the rapid synthesis of physically dispersed assets and mobile compute nodes into a network capable of efficient and reliable information gathering, dissemination, and processing. We formalize this network synthesis problem as selecting one among a set of potentially deployable networks which optimally supports the distributed execution of complex applications. We present the NSDC (Network Synthesis for Dispersed Computing) Framework, a general framework for studying this type of problem and use it to provide a solution for one well-motivated variant. We discuss how the framework can be extended to support other objectives, parameters, and constraints as well as more scalable solution approaches.