Converging the Networks
Abstract
Recent combat operations have demonstrated the inadequacy of current tactical communication systems and the significant communication bandwidth shortfalls that exist between operation and tactical forces. Data requirements supporting combat operations have increased exponentially in comparison to the bandwidth available, placing an enormous challenge on the archaic generations of communications equipment currently in the field. The data explosion of the late 1990s radically transformed how the Army fought, leading to the transition from a voice centric, acetate map-based force to a digitized force dependent on multiple data feeds to provide a common picture of the battlefield. Imagery, file sharing, e-mail, collaborative tools and Video Teleconferencing replaced the telephone and fax machine as the primary means of communications. Over time, technological insertions and upgrades to communications systems improved data capabilities at the operational and tactical levels, but this effort couldn't keep up with the ever-increasing bandwidth requirements. Forces deployed in austere environments required access to data services similar to capabilities provided in garrison. Existing limitations of the legacy communications systems coupled with the inability of the Signal Corps and the acquisition community to provide solutions, caused Warfighters to look elsewhere to solve their bandwidth shortfalls. This was the beginning of the "deregulation" of the network from the grasp of the signal community and what has been described as a "free-for-all" in communications systems procurements. Systems were procured without regard to technical architecture, resulting in a federation of stove-piped systems and networks that are operated outside the common user architecture. This paper examines the efficiencies that can be gained by converging these disparate networks into a single, seamless common user architecture that can meet the bandwidth requirements of all users.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 26, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA469200
Entities
People
- Leith A. Benedict
Organizations
- United States Army War College