Backbone Takes Flight
AIR FORCE DEMONSTRATES HIGH-CAPACITY, IP-BASED COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM ABLE TO LINK FORCES THEATERWIDE.
The Air Force recently demonstrated high-capacity IP networking among aircraft and tactical ground forces, proving that high-capacity, jam-resistant mobile network backbone communications are available for the warfighter and are in production today. The equipment demonstrated, the Multi- Platform Common Data Link (MP-CDL), implements a mobile IP network between aircraft hundreds of miles apart, and between those aircraft and terminals supporting ground forces.
MP-CDL was equally successful in multiple demonstrations on military and civilian aircraft in the months leading up to the demonstration at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., including a January test in which a live high-definition camera feed from an aircraft over New Mexico was transmitted to Lieutenant General Michael W. Peterson, Air Force chief of warfighting integration and chief information officer, at the C4ISR Visualization Center in the Pentagon.
MP-CDL was initially developed for the Air Force by prime contractor L-3 Communications, communication Systems-West, to transmit enhanced radar information from surveillance aircraft. The recent Air Force demonstration highlighted the broader value of the system, however, showing that the system’s high capacity and self-forming network technology are an excellent match to emerging requirements for a net-centric backbone linking commanders and forces throughout a theater of operations using streaming video, Voice over IP, Internet access and similar network applications.
“The program was initially based on the JSTARS mission, and the system is very well suited for that application,” said Bruce Carmichael, L-3’s vice president of programs responsible for MP-CDL. “But because MPCDL provides a high-capacity mobile IP network, it is the type of system that—in a net-centric world—could be used as a theater backbone. It’s a system that could be used to network large amounts of data across long distances.
“In our air-to-air testing, we were routinely connecting aircraft that were 335 miles apart with very high data rates. The test flights transmitted 68 Mbps symmetrically, and showed standard CDL rates as high as 274 Mbps. That’s a very large pipe to provide a theater commander to be able to transport imagery, IP-based traffic or streaming video from one part of the theater to another,” he said.
“That’s a system that can aggregate theater-level communications data and transmit it around a theater- size area at very high speeds, with low latency. The MP-CDL system, while perfectly suited for a JSTARS mission, also will be able to do double duty as a theater backbone provider,” Carmichael added.
BIG CROW TEST
An earlier test of the system, held at Kirtland last fall, showed that the MP-CDL system was able to support the air-to-air and air-to-ground sharing of real-time situational awareness and decision-making capability. It enabled operational unity between multiple commanders while viewing streaming video of time-sensitive targets and giving visual situational awareness of ISR assets.
That earlier test involved two NKC-135 (“Big Crow”) aircraft, which, as Carmichael explained, were fitted out with MP-CDL systems: “We put our system, using both directional and omni antennas, on the allocated spaces on the aircraft. We then put the modem portion of the system inside the aircraft, and began to outfit the aircraft with a series of display consoles that allowed us to run a variety of IP-based applications in a setting reminiscent of an operational scenario.
“People were setting up VoIP calls, surfing the Internet or using other IP-based applications, letting us demonstrate the utility of the system for both airborne and ground units,” he said.
“Because the system is IP based, it was relatively easy to integrate additional applications into the network,” Carmichael explained. “We had several instances where government employees brought their own government laptops onto the aircraft and accessed their offices. In one case, someone even accessed his personal computer at home. The use of standard protocols allows you to be seamless in integrating new features.”
In addition to air-to-air networked connectivity, the aircraft were connected to a fixed ground station and to a ROVER III, which is a portable receiver terminal used by special forces, and forward air controllers to receive streaming video and data from UAVs and other sources.
The MP-CDL systems, which are able to handle up to 2,000 VoIP connections, 88 T-1 Internet connections and 38 video streams, successfully carried out a series of tasks including hub handoffs, video teleconferences between air and ground, and highspeed Web access. All told, the system can simultaneously network a total of 50 active terminals—network nodes—at data rates of up to 137 Mbps outbound and 68 Mbps inbound, using the Network CDL waveform.
A key feature of the MP-CDL terminals, which incorporate the Standard CDL, Advanced CDL and Network CDL waveforms, is that they are highly jam resistant, automatically adapting to changing weather or information warfare environments. “The advantage of being highly jam resistant is that the systems maintain link under adverse circumstances. High priority data gets through even under the worst conditions. The link is maintained, and you can automatically ramp up to higher rates as conditions improve. So it’s a seamless transition,” Carmichael explained. ♦
