Bandwidth Allocation in Tactical Data Links via Mechanism Design

Our research focusses on improving the quality and accuracy of the common operating picture of a tactical scenario through the efficient allocation of bandwidth in the tactical data networks among self-interested actors, who may resort to strategic behaviour dictated by self-interest. We propose a two-stage bandwidth allocation mechanism based on modified strictly-proper scoring rules, whereby multiple agents can provide track data estimates of limited precisions and the centre does not have to rely on knowledge of the true state of the world when calculating payments. In particular, our work emphasizes the importance of applying robust optimization techniques to deal with the data uncertainty in the operating environment. We apply our robust optimization – based scoring rules mechanism to an agent-based model framework of the tactical defence scenario, and analyse the results obtained.