Modem for Interoperability

MODEM FOR INTEROPERABILITY



Developers are completing the design details, with an eye toward initial fielding
early next year, of a networking modem designed to integrate key technologies
into an integrated IP network for interoperable communications.

By Harrison Donnelly

Developers are completing the design details, with an eye toward initial fielding early next year, of a networking modem designed to integrate key technologies, including advanced commercial satellite networking and information assurance, into an integrated IP network for joint, interoperable communications.

Known as the Joint Internet Protocol Modem (JIPM), the new unit is intended to become a key component of the open systems architecture of Department of Defense, Army, Navy and Air Force SATCOM systems. With oversight by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), the JIPM will be a satellite modem standard for joint forces to connect to the Global Information Grid through DISA teleports and Standard Tactical Entry Point sites over both military and commercial satellites.

DISA officials emphasize the JIPM program’s fulfillment of two key requirements: the Digital Video Broadcast Satellite 2/Return Channel Satellite (DVB-S2/RCS) open standard, and National Security Agency/Network Information Integration (NII)-approved means by which to provide secure transmission of sensitive data.

DISA instituted the JIPM Program Management Office (PMO) to manage the program through the acquisition process. Both the JIPM program and the DoD Teleport program are within DISA’s Program Executive Office for SATCOM, Teleport and Services.

The JIPM program was publicly launched last fall, with the awarding of a contract, valued initially at $9.9 million and with a total potential value of $87 million, to Globecomm Systems Inc. (GSI) as prime contractor. The contract was issued by the Army Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems, Project Manager Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems, under the WorldWide Satellite Systems (WWSS) program.

Under the contract, GSI will provide program and contract management, while subcontractor ViaSat will provide the network system and modem design, with responsibility for the integration of a DVB-S2/DVB-RCS based IP satellite network and modems for hub-spoke networks employing FIPS 140-2, Level 2, AES-256 transmission security. The network and modems are also designed to include advanced features such as embedded TCP acceleration, adaptive coding and modulation, higher-order modulation, mesh connectivity extensions, extensive quality of service capabilities, extended network management and IPv6.

The ultimate goal of the program, explained Ric Vandermeulen, vice president and general manager, government SATCOM for ViaSat, is not to have only a single product, but rather to develop a standard that various companies could use to produce interoperable products in a commercial market.

“The intent is to develop a product based on commercial standards, have it openly published when the product is complete and has gone through testing, and then permit multiple companies to build products that will be interoperable. Having won this competition, we are the key developer, and to some extent the producer of the initial product. At that point, it will be open to industry to build products that would compete with what we’re developing,” he said.

Commercial Products

The linchpin of the JIPM concept is to leverage commercial technology in order to ensure interoperability in a modem that is economical and easy to use. Because all of the technologies involved are commercially available and mature, all that remains to be done is to integrate the technologies into a single product.

The heightened military reliance on commercial satellite transmission systems is a key factor encouraging development of the new modem, which through the use of IP can connect with either military or commercial transmission systems. Because of its worldwide presence, DoD must be agnostic as to what satellites are used. While DoD operates many military unique satellites, the bandwidth is limited, and utilizing the commercial satellite fleets allows a level of flexibility that can not be achieved with DoD satellites alone.

“Since there is a need to utilize a mixed fleet of satellite transponders, DoD wants to ensure that the specifications for the modem did not compromise the technical capabilities of a commercial satellite nor cause the satellite operator any host nation issues when the modem is deployed in non-U.S. territory,” a DISA statement added.

The JIPM initiative began in 2004 with a series of technical meetings with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and Telecommunication Industry Alliance (TIA) to develop a specification based on commercial standards to satisfy DoD needs. During 2005, a significant amount of work across the ITU and TIA influenced the commercial vendors into supporting IP SATCOM as a major new business area. As the vendors began to understand the potential, more and more began to participate, resulting in a far stronger and deeper market than industry observers might have anticipated.

In 2006, another series of meetings was held with the National Institute of Standards (NIST) to fully define the transmission security requirements for the IP modems. Once a final NIST FIPS 140-2, Level 2 specification was achieved, DISA began the procurement process in earnest, resulting in the October 2007 contract award.

Three critical technologies were leveraged to achieve the JIPM: Digital Video Broadcasting-Return Channel Satellite (DVB-RCS); Digital Video Broadcasting-Satellite Generation 2 (DVB-S2); and FIPS 140-2, Level 2 security. The DVB-RCS is an international commercial standard to allow bandwidth-on-demand, two-way communications across small satellite terminals. DVB-S2 is an international standard to allow higher-order modulation to improve information throughput. FIPS 140-2, Level 2 is a nationally certified, commercial encryption methodology for protecting information. All three standards have a broad, commercial base to allow multiple vendors to compete for this technology

Another key aspect of the program is that it will provide demand-based satellite communication transport services to the warfighter. The demand-based transport services concept relates to users and applications requesting bandwidth from a pool of resources shared among many IP modems and users. IP modems are designed to work with the tendency of Internet traffic to come in bursts, by allocating resources instantaneously among a network of IP modems, as required by the applications. Once the application has completed its transmission, the bandwidth is freed up for another modem and application to use.

“Typically, we talk about two different kinds of satellite technologies,” explained Ken Miller, president of GSI. “There is circuit based, where bandwidth is dedicated. If you put up a dedicated circuit, the user may or may not be using that bandwidth. So it may not be fully utilized. The idea in this system is that the bandwidth can be allocated to users as their needs change. If a warfighter needs to pull down a map or other information from a database, when he activates the request, the system will allocate the bandwidth needed to get that to him in a responsive way. The bandwidth in the satellite is allocated according to the need.”

To meet the critical need for information security, the JIPM will interoperate with High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryption Standard-form COMSEC, incorporate FIPS 140-2, Level 2 for TRANSEC and will complete a DoD Information Assurance Certification Accreditation Program (DIACAP) prior to release. GSI/ViaSat will conduct tests to verify that the JIPM equipment provides IA controls using the DIACAP testing program defined in DoD 8510.bb. Specified IA controls will be validated through the use of applicable DISA security technical implementation guides and associated supporting documents.

Proven Technology

Globecomm was selected as prime contractor for the JIPM from among the six companies participating in the WWSS program. As prime contractor, it will have overall program management responsibility, as well as some systems engineering responsibility. ViaSat will design and manufacture the JIPM units.

“The reason we selected ViaSat for this program is that the JIPM requirement is going to be met by integrating what amounts to proven technology. ViaSat is a very broad-based company, and has developed a lot of products that represent all the off-the-shelf technologies that can be integrated to produce JIPM. So they have all the technology already under their roof. There is a significant integration job, but the technology is really developed. They have all the pieces, with products that have been certified, which makes it relatively low risk,” said Miller.

Indeed, as Vandermeulen pointed out, the transition to IP-based products has already been strongly underway. “Over the past few years, throughout the current conflicts, there has been a much greater reliance on commercial satellite communications, and in turn a greater reliance on commercial satellite communication products. To a great extent, these have enabled the transition to IP applications quite quickly, because of commercial market forces creating the shift to IP based products.

“So whether it’s ViaSat’s or some other company’s products, the military in both Afghanistan and Iraq has implemented a large number of commercial IP SATCOM solutions. It’s been fueled by the need to modernize their capabilities and increase effectiveness. This program is an outgrowth of that, building upon it in a way that provides a standards-based, interoperability-based system, as opposed to individual products that have been acquired in the past. So to some degree, this program is helping organize the transition,” he continued.

Instead of dealing with a proprietary system, the military in effect is asking industry to use the DVB-S2/RCS standard and augment that with the transmission security provisions required for military operations, which might not be required for a typical commercial operation. So DISA has combined these two capabilities—transmission security plus a standards-based communication protocol—to create a family of interoperable products that eventually could be made by multiple vendors.

“To some extent, the capabilities that we’ll be providing are not that different from what we’ve been providing with the current force modem, such as the Army’s Joint Network Node and the Marines’ Support Wide Area Network,” Vandermeulen said. “But we’re providing it in a manner that enables broader industry participation in the future.” ♦