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Near-term Steps to Transforming Communications By George Borrelli, Brian Crow, Shane Morrison, Robert
Taylor, Darrell Trasko, MITRE's vision for transforming the communications capabilities of its sponsors is a bold one that reaches far into the future. But this vision will not be reached in one giant stride. It will be reached in small steps, each one an incremental success in the ongoing evolution of communications.
Phones, computers, PDAs—everything is going wireless. For a military whose success is becoming more and more dependent on how quickly it can strike a target and move on to the next one, reliable wireless communication is crucial to maintaining its mobility. Experts have picked multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems as one of the next big revolutions in wireless communications technology. Most R&D and commercial research outfits developing MIMO systems have targeted their efforts on fixed indoor high-speed wireless local area networks (WLANs), which rely on dense multipath non-line-of-sight environments to achieve high data rates. However, the military has been slow to adopt MIMO because MIMO-based WLANs experience performance degradation whenever there is line-of-sight transmission, multiple access interference, or jamming—issues likely to be present on a battlefield. MITRE has taken on the challenge of fortifying MIMO for military use. By designing space-time algorithms that exploit a two-way (feedback) MIMO channel, our researchers believe they can make MIMO systems capable of maintaining high capacity in all environments. If successful, this project will contribute to the development of a tactical radio system that will give our military and intelligence forces constant high-speed wireless network connectivity in every environment, be it rural or urban, outdoor or indoor. Implementing New Technologies Breakthroughs in communications technology are exciting events. But sometimes achieving the breakthrough is not the most arduous part of the process. It can take as much ingenuity to implement new technologies as to discover them. The latest in extensible markup languages, XML, allows users to define, transmit, validate, and interpret many types of data among many types of applications. Thus, it is a crucial cornerstone of the military's vision of net-centric communications. The promise of interoperability that XML provides, however, will likely be a false one, unless the language is implemented in a consistent and reliable manner across all systems. To ensure such consistency and reliability, the XML software for each system needs to be fully tested to guarantee its compatibility. MITRE is developing a formal standard testing process that will ensure XML systems are fully functional in their operational environment. Once MITRE has perfected its testing system, the military will be able to implement XML with full confidence throughout the Department of Defense. Employing Technologies in Better Ways During the early liberation of Iraq, Marine units advanced so quickly that they moved beyond the range of the data radios they relied on for battlefield information. To keep up with their advancing troops, commanders and staff had to displace the servers processing the battlefield data and reestablish them closer to the front lines. The need to break down and set up the servers led to potentially hazardous gaps in situational awareness. By outfitting all-terrain vehicles with components of the data radio servers and transmitters, the system could become just as mobile as the troops it supported. The Marine Corps christened the project the Command and Control On-the-move Network Digital Over-the-horizon Relay (CONDOR) Capability Set. MITRE is providing technical engineering support to the CONDOR Project Officer at the Marine Corps Systems Command. The Marine Corps is equipping ground vehicles to serve as mobile housing for elements of the CONDOR radio system. The first vehicle is known as the "Gateway." It acts as a node for the data radio network. The Gateway frees the Marine Operating Force Commanders from the frequent need to break down and set up servers. The second vehicle, the "Point of Presence Vehicle," keeps Marines connected to the network no matter how far and fast they advance. The third vehicle, the "Jump C2," maintains communications during system displacement, ensuring that Marine Operating Force Commanders maintain situational awareness at all times. Employing Fielded Technologies You won't find cell phone towers on the mountain peaks of the Caucasus or fiber optic cable beneath the sands of sub-Saharan Africa. But as it prepares to fight terrorism wherever it may raise its head, the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) needs to extend its communication abilities to the edges of its domain. USEUCOM has enlisted MITRE to help it design a system that could be quickly deployed to austere locations in order to span gaps in its communication capabilities. After an investigation of USEUCOM's current communication systems, we prototyped a cost-effective, lightweight, high-performance, easily deployed satellite communications system capable of supporting voice, video, and data transmissions. The prototype system had to meet several goals: be capable of deployment
within 72 hours of mission notification; be simple enough to be manned
by a single operator; and be transportable via commercial or military
air transport. MITRE designed a prototype system that integrates IP-based
baseband equipment with a commercial Ku-band satellite terminal. The terminal
weighs 86 pounds and integrates an antenna, radio frequency electronics,
satellite modem, and a global positioning system receiver into a suitcase-like
module. The operator controls the terminal using a laptop computer and
Web browser connected to the terminal via an Ethernet port. USEUCOM's
reach can now extend into the most hostile terrain in order to uproot
terrorists.
Conceiving New Programs We are in the middle of an information explosion that is radically changing the way the military operates. To take full advantage of this situation, communications systems must be able to pass information to all destinations. Unfortunately, current communications systems do not support seamless connectivity. One promising solution is the intelligent communications gateway. A gateway is the part of a network that provides automated interfaces to another network or system using different message formats and/or communications protocols. By employing a gateway, systems using different communications capabilities can exchange information without requiring modifications to the existing systems. MITRE is laying the groundwork in several ways for the evolving use of gateways. We are developing and investigating a layered communications architecture modeled on the Internet that will increase the ability of communications systems to incorporate gateways. Also, MITRE is striving to foster commonality among gateway developers to stem the development of redundant gateway programs. Meanwhile, we are assisting the Air Force in creating a consolidated Objective Gateway Program and Data Strategy that will guide their adoption of the technology. To enhance efficiency and interoperability among Tactical Data Network platforms, MITRE is guiding the Air Force and Navy in the Common Link Integration Processing (CLIP) program. One of our tasks is to help develop fully interoperable data network processing modules that are reusable across most platforms. These data network platforms, gateways, and even the Joint Tactical Radio System will be able to integrate CLIP modules as key interoperability enablers. As CLIP matures and is adopted by many platforms, the need for stopgap gateway solutions will be greatly reduced. Employing Innovative Acquisition Our troops in the field need to be nimble and quick to win their objectives. Likewise, the military acquisition process needs to be nimble and quick in equipping forces with the communications capabilities they need to succeed. At times, however, the pace of communications technology outruns even the most determined efforts by the military acquisition process to keep up. One such case is the Air Force's plan to replace its Ground Mobile Forces (GMF) terminals, developed in the 1970s as the tactical ground segment for the Defense Satellite Communications System. The Ground Multiband Terminal (GMT) acquisition program will replace GMF with wideband satellite communications terminals that will access both military and commercial space segments at C, X, Ku, and Ka bands and provide a huge increase in data rate throughput capability. The traditional development contract the Air Force initially employed for the acquisition program was unable to achieve the desired result in a timely manner. The Air Force then decided to obtain the technology it needed "off the shelf." Instead of relying on a single contractor to develop the technology from scratch, the Air Force, with MITRE's guidance, will enlist industry sources to modify and integrate existing products into the GMT system. To date, several companies have demonstrated their capability and willingness to participate in the acquisition program source selection by showing candidate GMT terminals. The GMT capability is needed quickly, as it is designed to be fielded in synchronism with new satellites entering service in 2007. The GMT effort represents a new paradigm of using commercial-off-the-shelf products to respond quickly to the DOD's needs.
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| For more information, please contact Chris Lockheardt using the employee directory. Page last updated: December 13, 2005 | Top of page |
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hese
steps come in many different flavors: discovering brand new technologies,
implementing new technologies, employing fielded technologies in new and
better ways, conceiving new programs, and employing innovative ways to
acquire systems. The following are some examples of efforts MITRE is engaged
in for each of these categories of transformational steps.
Discovering
New Technologies
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