'Digital backbone': Software helps soldiers cope with electronics clutter aboard trucks.

• Author: Jean, Grace V.
• Position: Truck Technology

* Military trucks are becoming so high-tech that cabins are running out of space for computer boxes and screens.

One solution to this problem is to digitize systems so they can be integrated into a cockpit-like information network. But that has been difficult to achieve because contractors typically don't want to turn over their proprietary software to other vendors.

That mindset may be changing now that the Army is demanding integrated systems. Manufacturers that initially balked at letting their software reside on non-proprietary hardware are adapting to accommodate the new requirements, says Greg Glaros, president of Synexxus Inc., an Arlington, Va-based firm that developed a data distribution system that has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan aboard vehicles operated by explosive ordnance disposal teams.

The Defense Department for the first time is requiring data distribution systems, or middleware, for tactical vehicles. The joint light tactical vehicle will need digital backbones to support the data-rich electronic systems that the military wants. The Army also is seeking a system with which it can retrofit its existing vehicle fleets.

Synexxus' data distribution system, Electronic Keel, was designed to host different applications in a plug-and-play fashion. Company officials liken the keel to a Christmas tree--vendors can connect their digital or analog components to the system. The processor then converts signals from those multiple sources to an Internet data format and then distributes the information via cellular, wireless or satellite networks. Troops can access the data on a swivel-arm mounted touch-screen display.

Troops no longer have to hop from one computer console to another inside the cab to monitor blue force positions, control vehicle sensors, or fire weapons, says Glaros. At the press of a button, troops can call up individual video feeds or flip through images, manipulate a robot, control a camera, pull up maps or chat. The EKeel, as the system is called for short, runs the Linux operating system, but many of its interface features are modeled after Apple's iMac computers.

Just as applications can be added to the Apple iPhone and other smart phones and PDAs, new software can be added to the EKeel.

"More and more companies are willing to put their software on our system, thereby allowing us to get rid of excess hardware on the vehicles," says Nandita Mangal, a software design engineer at Synexxus.

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