Five Essential Networking-On-The-Move Capabilities.

• Author: Kawasaki, Charlie
• Position: Industry Viewpoint

In battlefield environments, the fight does not stop just because a warfighter is moving. Doing so would put them at a distinct disadvantage if they cannot maintain situational awareness at all times. Information dominance requires networking-on-the-move capabilities that enable warfighters to stay on top of complex threat environments.

The Marine Corps Networking-on-the-Move Increment 1 Refresh program is an example of an integrated tactical mobile network working to effectively leverage proven commercial and government technology to expand and enhance communications capabilities. Combat vehicles integrated with networking-on-the-move equipment provide on-the-move communications, mission command and situational awareness from anywhere on the battlefield and in even the most remote environments and challenging terrains.

To ensure that warfighters can fully leverage networking-on-the-move for mission success, there are five essential capabilities that such implementations should deliver.

One is the ability to handle rugged terrain. "On-the-move" is a term that can be liberally interpreted, but suffice to say soldiers operating in complex environments are not often cruising down well-paved roads at 35 miles per hour. For that reason, networking-on-the-move systems must be able to handle a variety of expected and unforeseen situations vehicles encounter.

For example, when traversing rugged terrain, the vehicle can experience a high level of shock and vibration, and networking-on-the-move systems must be able to stand up to that abuse so that communications are not interrupted.

In the past, methods to deploy access to tactical networks have included commercial-off-the-shelf equipment designed for data-center environments. This type of equipment is not typically intended for tactical or networking-on-the-move applications and was often only suitable for use when vehicles remained stationary.

A new generation of ruggedized COTS equipment is now available that makes networking-on-the-move more reliable, while continuing to maintain interoperability with enterprise networking equipment, ensuring end-to-end communications.

The second capability is addressing full mobility needs in constrained spaces. Mobility ultimately drives networking-on-the-move, but the amount of available real estate within ground vehicles and aircraft does not change. This means vendors must deliver an increasingly advanced set of networking capabilities in a constrained...