NCAnt: A Network Coding-based Multipath Data Transmission Scheme for Multi-UAV Formation Flying Networks

Network coding based multipath transmission method has been shown to improve the reliability and throughput of end-to-end data delivery for ad hoc networks. However, when it is adapted to flying ad hoc networks (FANETs), multipath establishment and maintenance scheme should be elaborately designed due to frequently local topology changes during UAVs’ formation flying. This letter proposes a network-coding-aware multipath routing protocol NCAnt. It achieves reliable end-to-end transmission by maximizing recoding opportunities based on the ant colony optimization (ACO). Moreover, the positive feedback mechanism of ant colony pheromone is utilized to reduce the routing reconstruction cost under frequent local topology changes. Simulation results show NCAnt can provide up to 50% additional coding opportunities and achieves lower path recovery delay than baseline schemes.