# The Internet of Battle Things

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.08980 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.08980/

## Key facts

- Cited by 11 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 25 Dec 2017.

## Built on by (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [Link Scheduling using Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.05536/) (2021)
- [Distributed Link Sparsification for Scalable Scheduling Using Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.14339/) (2022)
- [Delay-aware Backpressure Routing Using Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.10748/) (2022)
- [Congestion-aware Distributed Task Offloading in Wireless Multi-hop Networks Using Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.02471/) (2023)
- [Biased Backpressure Routing Using Link Features and Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.09753/) (2024)
- [Game-Theoretic and Machine Learning-based Approaches for Defensive Deception: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.10121/) (2021)
- [Knowledge Base Poisoning Attacks and Defense for Policy-Aware LLM-RAG Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.04379/) (2026)
- [Robust synchronization and policy adaptation for networked heterogeneous agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.03273/) (2024)
- [Distributed Link Sparsification for Scalable Scheduling Using Graph Neural Networks (Journal Version)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.05447/) (2025)
- [A Differentiable Digital Twin of Distributed Link Scheduling for Contention-Aware Networking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.10874/) (2025)
- [A Recommendation System Approach for Interference-Robust Sensor Subset Selection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.11143/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The battlefield of the future will be densely populated by a variety of entities ("things") -- some intelligent and some only marginally so -- performing a broad range of tasks: sensing, communicating, acting, and collaborating with each other and human warfighters. We call this the Internet of Battle Things, IoBT. In some ways, IoBT is already becoming a reality, but 20-30 years from now it is likely to become a dominant presence in warfare. To become a reality, however, this bold vision will have to overcome a number of major challenges. As one example of such a challenge, the communications among things will have to be flexible and adaptive to rapidly changing situations and military missions. In this paper, we explore this and several other major challenges of IoBT, and outline key research directions and approaches towards solving these challenges.