Simulated effects of sounding on automatic link establishment HF radio network performance

David A. Sutherland Jr.

Abstract: A discrete event simulation model for an HF Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) radio network is described. The simulation model is based on Federal Standard 1045 "Telecommunications: HF Radio Automatic Link Establishment." The simulation is used to study the effects of sounding on the simulated network. Sounding is the periodic broadcast transmission of identification information by a radio station that may be monitored by other stations. Sounding is used to evaluate the propagation quality of the available HF radio channels (frequencies). The station and channel overhead associated with sounding is indicated by this simulation to be generally detrimental to network performance. The exception is that in poor propagation conditions, at low traffic rates, sounding may significantly enhance some aspects of network performance.

Keywords: simulation; modeling; network; Federal Standard 1045; automatic link establishment (ALE); HF radio; sounding

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