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A Multi-Factor Reconnection Model for Unmanned Surface Vehicular Networks under Communication Link Failures
Yue Liu,Yang Xiao and Tieshan Li

Reliable communication is critical for multi-unmanned surface vehicle systems operating in dynamic maritime environments. When a communication link fails, the affected unmanned surface vehicle must make reliable decisions to re-establish connectivity and maintain coordinated operations. However, relying on a single metric for candidate evaluation often leads to unstable or suboptimal reconnections. To address this issue, we propose a multi-factor decision model that integrates distance, formation deviation, link stability, and redundancy. A Kalman filter-based mechanism is introduced to estimate link stability, enabling robust assessment under noisy and time-varying conditions. Three performance metrics are used to compare the proposed method with greedy and received signal strength indicator-based algorithms. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves lower formation deviation and higher link stability than baseline methods, highlighting its effectiveness in maintaining reliable connectivity.

Keywords: communication link failures, unmanned surface vehicles, multi-factor decision model, candidate selection