~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Network architectures and UAVs:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[001]~ The Air Force's bid to take over all of the U.S. military's flying drones has been shot down *(21)*
~ Over the years, the various branches of the military have all pursued their own independent,
~ often overlapping, unmanned aerial (UAV) vehicle programs.
~ The result is a giant, jumbled robot menagerie, with over a dozen species of military drones flying in Iraq.
~ Few of them speak the same language, or work together well.
~ Soldiers often have to wait weeks for a slice of the radio spectrum that they can use to talk to their UAVs.
~ That's why panel after expert panel has recommended that someone take control of this unmanned zoo,
~ and start getting the creatures to play together nicely
~ the Joint Requirements Oversight Council
~ endorsed the idea of turning the Air Force's new UAV Center of Excellence near Las Vegas
~ into an establishment for all four services.
~ That center will be led by a rotational flag officer, with the first leader being an Army one-star [general],
~ The deputy, also a rotational position, will initially be filled by an Air Force colonel."

[002]~ Tactical Satellite Communications Networks
~ When deployed in theater, SATCOM offers terrain independent communications,
~ flexible networking and direct link to the final destinations – without reliance on radio relays.

[003]~ Navy unifies its monitoring networks
~ The U.S. Navy has put its Naval Network Warfare Command in charge of monitoring the Navy's hundreds of different networks
~ used by more than 400,000 personnel around the world in order to detect security violations.

[004]~ NAVY-ONLY NETWORKS *(1)*
~ The HICOM network provides a voice link between the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and all subordinate commands ashore, afloat, and airborne
~ Navy Operational Radio and Telephone Switchboard (NORATS)

[005]~ DARPA Active Networks *(3)*
~ Smart packet is an agent with the goal of delivering itself to its destination.

[006]~ DARPA / The Networking in Extreme Environments (NetEx) program *(3)*
~ The Networking in Extreme Environments (NetEx) program will create a wireless networking technology for the military user
~ that enables robust connectivity in harsh environments and integrate into emerging sensor and communication systems

[007]~ DARPA / The Connectionless Networks (CN) program *(3)*
~ In order to bring data efficiently from high value, but energy limited sensors (such as unattended ground sensors (UGS)),
~ into system architectures like that of the Airborne Communications Node (ACN) a new fundamental emphasis must be placed on how these kinds of sensor networks communicate.

[008]~ DARPA / The Tera Hertz Operational Reachback (THOR) program *(3)*
~ to provide a high data rate (internet-like) backbone to the tactical user whether airborne, terrestrial, or maritime
~ the Department’s vision of a “Global Grid” will be enabled by creating the high-data-rate nexus among the terrestrial, space, and IR grids.
[009]~ the Active Networks home page

[010]~ Self-organizing sensor networks *(21)*
~ Self-organizing sensor networks may be built from sensor nodes that may spontaneously create impromptu network,
~ assemble the network themselves,
~ dynamically adapt to device failure and degradation,
~ manage movement of sensor nodes,
~ and react to changes in task and network requirements.
~ Reconfigurable smart sensor nodes enable sensor devices to be self-aware,
~ self-reconfigurable and autonomous

[011]~ Darpa looks past Ethernet, IP nets
~ Darpa's vision is to create a new kind of peer-to-peer network for "edge-driven computing
~ Net will forward data one hop at a time over a distributed network of autonomous nodes using new and more reliable and efficient schemes

[012]~ A New Kind of Internet
~ The problem is, that Internet routers are usually static,
~ while unmanned aerial vehicles aren't (or at least shouldn't be, if they're doing their job).
~ Unmanned aerial vehicle motion requires a totally different routing and addressing strategy from that used in the Internet
~ For example, routes must be recomputed every second, as opposed to every 30 minutes in the Border Gateway Protocol routing protocol.
~ Border Gateway Protocol is used to exchange routing information messages between autonomous, but stationary, systems
~ While the current Internet has plenty of wireless activity,
~ the idea behind MinuteMan's "airborne Internet" is to establish a "mobile backbone.
~ This concept is unknown in the commodity Internet," says Gerla.
~ In the wireless medium, packet errors and losses are a fact of life.
~ But in military applications, these kinds of losses are unacceptable.
~ It is essential to maintain efficient operation in the battlefield network
~ in spite of unpredictable movements of the assets on the ground and of hostile attacks."
~ Gerla and his colleagues have designed a small prototype to test the ideas about an airborne Internet.
~ The current prototype uses 802.11 radios and has "about 10 radio nodes and 20 sensor nodes."
~ But the Wi-Fi test network is proof-of-concept only, because 802.11 is "too vulnerable to interference/jamming," says Gerla.
~ We are designing and fabricating MIMO (Multi Input Multi Output) radios.
~ MIMO technology is used to speed up transmission times and increase range
~ by dividing datastreams into one or more components and
~ then transmit each datastream via a separate antenna to a receiver that also has multiple antennas.

[013]~ Network Centric Warfare
~ The network centric warfare system of the future will completely integrate every aspect of logistics and communications
~ right down to the individual soldier

[014]~ Network Centric, Rush to Connect *(21)*
~ Weaving military systems into a seamless "network of networks"--an enterprise known as the Global Information Grid (GIG)
~ existing aircraft like F/A-18 Super Hornets are pushing the limits of old waveforms like Link 16.
~ The Air Force "C4ISR Flight Plan," links key network programs into a coherent strategy and indicates a path forward.
~ C4ISR stands for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
~ --the heart of network centric activity

[015]~ DARPA's Strategic Thrust in Robust, Self-Forming Networks *(21)*
DARPA is conducting research in areas that include:
(1) self-forming ad hoc networks;
(2) high capacity, multiband, multimode communications systems;
(3) ultra-wideband communications;
(4) spectrum sharing;
(5) low probability of detection/intercept/exploitation communications; and,
(6) information assurance or cybersecurity.
~ Military networks, more than commercial networks, involve large-scale, highly distributed, mobile networks-of-networks
~ that are increasingly wireless, deal with time-critical problems, and face potential attackers
~ who are extremely dedicated and sophisticated. Failure in military networks has extreme consequences.
~ Moreover, network centric warfare involves networks that must assemble and
~ reassemble on-the-fly on an ad hoc basis without having a fixed or set infrastructure in-place
~ In the most advanced cases, these are peer -to-peer or "infrastructure less" networks
~ Future network-centric warfare systems will be able to leverage "self-aware" capabilities to determine
~ when they are under attack and autonomically respond, and reconfigure themselves in much the same way as the human body reacts to an infection

[016]~ Autonomous UAV Network *(21)*
~ A team of small autonomous UAVs cooperating together may be able to support a number of different sensors
~ Often, the UAV mission requires cooperation between UAVs within a team.
~ The Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), a division of The Johns Hopkins University,Staff of 3,800, 68% engineers and scientists

[017]~ Submarines take on new technology / UAV launched from Albany *(21)*
~ The first-ever launch of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle from a surfaced submarine July 20 was a great success,
~ proving the expanded utility of a technology already being used by United States Marines in Iraq
~ The UAV was launched from the bridge aboard Albany while the submarine was operating on the surface

[018]~ Boeing ScanEagle Demonstrates Net-Centric Technologies at Joint Military Demonstration
~ The autonomous control software technology utilized for the demonstration was developed as part of DARPA's Program Composition of Embedded Systems (PCES) program
~ The embedded PCES technology enables a UAV in the field to autonomously map its own path without operator input
~ Headquartered in St. Louis , Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $30.5 billion business
~ Insitu, which introduced the first UAV to cross the Atlantic Ocean , developed its SeaScan UAV to serve the commercial fishing industry for fish spotting
~ At present, an operator on the ground has to plot the UAV's course via waypoints to ensure
~ the vehicle reaches and remains in the proper position to accomplish its assigned task.

[019]~ UAV used for satellite communication
~ UAVs can be used to setup an emergency wireless network

[020]~ The Dawn of Network Centric Warfare ? *(21)*
~ research and development is most likely to be concentrated in the areas of Sensors, C2 and Communications
~ There is going to be a marked increase in investments in datalinks and communication networks as militaries strive to bond sensors and strike platforms together
~ We can also expect further development into the C2, Communication systems and Optics for UAV's
~ UAV's have proved themselves on the battlefield
~ persistence over the battlefield is now possible

[021]~ Network-centric warfare takes flight *(21)*
~ Information gathering and sharing are the essence of network-centric warfare:
~ getting data to the warfighters who need it, when they need it.
~ And a key method for gathering that data is with unmanned aerial vehicles
~ UAV spending worldwide likely will double over the next decade to $4.5 billion annually, totaling more than $30 billion,
~ U.S. UAV efforts are closely tied to the broader trend in information warfare and net-centric systems
~ UAVs are a key element in the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance portion of this revolution, and are expanding into other missions as well
~ DataPath supplied Earth terminals for a Marine Corps Systems Command communications project in Iraq
~ It's about pushing the edge of that net-centric network,
~ not only to the frontline soldier but also to the sensors deployed beyond that soldier,
~ so he or she can understand with some specificity what obstacles are in front of them
~ The system takes the video feeds from UAVs and digitizes and compresses the images.
~ It then sends them to LANs established on the ground and from which multiple users can access the video and data
~ As military forces depend on data from UAVs, the network becomes as important as weapons
~ Air traffic management is another area that IT companies will need to watch.
~ Shammai recalled an incident in Afghanistan in which a passenger aircraft almost collided with a German UAV.
~ Another need is for a master control that can manage various UAVs as well as unmanned boats and land vehicles.
~ Raytheon Co. is developing a tactical control system for the Navy that simultaneously will manage multiple UAVs.
~ It works with Northrop Grumman's RQ-8 Fire Scout helicopter UAV.
~ Typically, UAV builders would develop controls specific to just one vehicle.
~ That led to stovepiped, ground-control systems that can't interoperate.
~ That issue needs to be addressed to achieve the battlefield-view snapshot that network-centric warfare promises.
~ AeroVironment Inc., Monrovia, Calif., is developing the Global Observer,
~ a plane that can fly for more than a week at an elevation of more than 65,000 feet.
~ It can be used for communications in civilian applications, as well as for a range of military applications.
~ L-3 acquired BAI Aerosystems Inc., which designs, manufactures and integrates UAVs

[022]~ Aerovironment.com

[023]~ L-3 BAI Aerosystems

(this link list is to be updated by Small & Smart Inc)
[024]~
[025]~
[026]~
[027]~
[028]~
[029]~
[030]~
[031]~
[032]~
[033]~
[034]~
[035]~
[036]~
[037]~
[038]~
[039]~
[040]~
[041]~
[042]~
[043]~
[044]~
[045]~
[046]~
[047]~
[048]~
[049]~
[050]~
[051]~
[052]~
[053]~
[054]~
[055]~
[056]~
[057]~
[058]~
[059]~
[060]~
[061]~
[062]~
[063]~
[064]~
[065]~
[066]~
[067]~
[068]~
[069]~
[070]~
[071]~
[072]~
[073]~
[074]~
[075]~
[076]~
[077]~
[078]~
[079]~
[080]~
[081]~
[082]~
[083]~
[084]~
[085]~
[086]~
[087]~
[088]~
[089]~
[090]~
[091]~
[092]~
[093]~
[094]~
[095]~
[096]~
[097]~
[098]~
[099]~