11 04 1016-00-000s usage cases and functional requirements mesh networking military perspective

September 2004

W.T. Kasch, J.L. Burbank

doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0

Usage Cases and Functional Requirements for Mesh Networking: A Military Perspective

Usage Cases and Functional Requirements for Mesh Networking: A

Military Perspective

William T. Kasch and Jack L. Burbank

The Johns Hopkins UniversityApplied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL)

Slide 1

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Why take military requirements into account?• Why are mesh networks important to the military?

• The Military Transformation• The Military need for mesh networking

• What does mesh networking mean to the military?• Examples of current military mesh networking• Future military mesh network enabling concepts and

technologies• Notional Military Mesh Network Scenarios

• Key functional requirements for military mesh networks

• Conclusion

Outline

Slide 2

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Military is a very large potential customer of 802.11s products if military requirements are met

• Military already procures significant quantity of 802.11 equipment not originally designed to meet their needs

• Lack of suitability is largely responsible for constraining this investment

• Significant investment by Military for augmentation of 802.11 technology to better meet needs

• Strong desire to leverage commercial-based solutions• Commercial products that can meet Military requirements

stand a very good chance of being purchased large scale• Product could be physical hardware or “virtual radio” integrated

into DoD’s Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) software radio platform

Why Consider Military Requirements?

Slide 3

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Historically, military networks have been designed for highly specific applications with highly focused requirements

• Resultant proprietary solutions that, while highly effective, suffer from inflexibility, stifling complexity, and poor interoperability

• The Military has been transforming itself to enable a more network-centric warfare strategy

• More heavy reliance on information collection and dissemination• Fundamental trade of “armor for connectivity”

• Highly mobile forces using information to conduct fast/responsive, precise, highly-lethal maneuvers – as opposed to the “war of attrition” paradigm

The Military Transformation

Slide 4

This new war-fighting paradigm places unprecedented importance on communication networks

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• The networks that aim to enable network-centric warfare are built upon a few basic principles:

• Commercial-based standards across networks enabling improved interoperability

• As opposed to highly specialized proprietary technologies• Interoperability among individual Services and Allies

• New management paradigms• Self-managing, self-configuring, self-healing• As opposed to significant pre-planning

The Military Transformation (continued)

Slide 5

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Military often operates in regions where network infrastructure does not exist

• Sea-based assets/forces, ground-based deployed assets/forces, non-deployed assets/forces

• Mesh networking is a key enabling technology• Mesh networks provide the opportunity to provide “instant

infrastructure” quickly• Mesh networks provide the opportunity to provide a dynamic

and adaptive network infrastructure without re-planning• Networks must be capable of keeping up with force movements

Military Need for Mesh Networking

Slide 6

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Mesh networking concepts are used or are envisioned to operate for a variety of applications

• Non-deployed applications• Deployed ground-based applications• Deployed sea-based applications• Airborne-based applications

• Examples:• Two-Way Robust Acquisition of Data program (2-RAD)• Enhanced Position Location Reporting System (EPLRS)• SecNet• Sensor networks• Airborne weapons

Military Mesh Networks Today

Slide 7

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


XX

*

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**@

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3 Types of YPG WLAN Sites:

Two-Way Robust Acquisition of Data

Slide 8

• An early mesh network concept to enable real-time telemetry collection from mobile platforms

• YPG and its 2-RAD prototype implementation extends network access in a mesh fashion where infrastructure is not easily extendable (rough desert terrain)

• Wireless bridging application• Fixed infrastructure• Fixed or mobile users

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• A proprietary “near-mesh” network developed by Raytheon

• Provides “robust, on-the-move, high-speed, automated data exchange”*

• Has mesh networking characteristics: self-healing, automatic network management

• Not a true mesh network (network control stations required) but a step in the direction of true mesh networking for the military

• Available in a variety of platforms: manpack, vehicular, airborne

• Up to 1500 nodes supported per division

*Images and specfications cited here taken from Raytheon EPLRS specification sheet (http://www.raytheon.com/products/eplrs/ref_docs/eplrs.pdf)

EPLRS

Slide 9

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Security-enhanced NSA Type 1 encrypted 802.11 WLAN technology

• Approved for ad-hoc networking* by operating with the ad-hoc mode of 802.11

• Key management a scalability concern at this point

*Specifications taken from Harris SecNet briefing:

http://www.govcomm.harris.com/secure-comm/Docs/SecNet11Briefing.pdf

Harris SecNet 11

Slide 10

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Army Future Combat System (FCS)• A networked “system of systems” that will enable more effective use

of information on the battlefield• Future Force Warrior (FFW)

• Soldier collaboration (voice, video) through mobile mesh networks

• Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS)• Future Military radio architecture• Software Defined Radio (SDR) platform that will provide common

radio across all platform types and enable integration of future capabilities as “virtual radios”

• Different “clusters”: Handheld, vehicular, maritime, airborne, embedded• Self-configuring, decentralized networking capabilities built-in for

some applications (Wideband Networking Waveform)

Future of Military Mesh Networks

Slide 11

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


A-160SHADOWMICRO UAV

ROBOTIC SENSORC2 OR LAND WARRIOR VEHICLE WEAPONS

A-160SHADOWMICRO UAV

ROBOTIC SENSORC2 OR LAND WARRIOR VEHICLE WEAPONS

A-160SHADOWMICRO UAV A-160A-160SHADOWSHADOWMICRO UAVMICRO UAV

ROBOTIC SENSORC2 OR LAND WARRIOR VEHICLE WEAPONSROBOTIC SENSORROBOTIC SENSORC2 OR LAND WARRIOR VEHICLEC2 OR LAND WARRIOR VEHICLE WEAPONSWEAPONS

Future Combat System

Slide 12

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


NLOS

SUAV Carrier

NetFires

Mortar

UAVs

NLOS Resupply

BLOS/LOS

APC, C2, CV, RV

Other Layered Sensors

Reconnaissance &Surveillance

Future Force Warrior

Slide 13

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Some notional scenarios:• Soldier-to-soldier networks

• Video, voice, health, status• Highly mobile, one of the most dynamic mesh configurations

• Multiple platform networks• Could include vehicular, airborne, dismount soldier, and fixed sensor platforms, amongst other

possibilities• Large volume of information shared between many different platforms, could include

command and control, sensor data, video, voice, amongst other types of data• Sensor networks

• Detecting enemy presence, video monitoring• Exploit number of sensor nodes for route redundancy and improved data flow from sensors for

reachback to backbone• Ground-based vehicular platforms, ground-based fixed-platforms, sea-based (e.g. buoy)

• Airborne networks• Fighter jets could share information to enable effective composite target tracking, voice, video• Missiles, artillery shells, perhaps one day even individual bullets

• Maritime networks• Enhanced composite tracking capabilities between multiple radars, voice, video

Military Mesh Network Scenarios

Slide 14

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Intelligent• Self-configuring, self-repairing, minimal manual network configuration and

maintenance• Distributed

• Eliminates any single point of failure• Scalable

• MAC and PHY designs accommodate changing topology structure and size, allowing for range extension and redundancy as nodes are added to the network

• Highly Mobile• Affords robust support for mobile users• Fast deployment times• Mobility could vary from foot soldier, to vehicular (e.g. HMMWV), to high-speed

airborne (e.g. missile)• Affordable

• Future military networks consists of very large number of network nodes/users• High Capacity

• Future military concepts are bandwidth intensive• Requires an efficient solution

Key Characteristics of Mesh Networks

Slide 15

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Operational flexibility• Support fixed operations (e.g. extension of infrastructure)

• Fixed access points, fixed and/or mobile users• Support full MANET operations

• Full network mobility (mobile infrastructure/access points and users)• Hybrid fixed-MANET operations

• Mix of mobile users, mobile infrastructure, and fixed access points

• Quality-of-Service (QoS)• Future DoD networks must support QoS concepts• QoS could be based upon application needs, user, platform, and/or

mission• QoS must be flexible to support time-varying needs and changing QoS

definitions

Key Characteristics (continued)

Slide 16

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Security• Data shared across a military mesh network must be secured to

minimize loss of life and maximize operational effectiveness• Communications security

• Ideally, solution would support Type I encryption of user data and at least Type II encryption of network management traffic

• Network security• Strong authentication and authorization enforcement mechanisms

• Operational security• Low probability of intercept/detection (LPI/LPD) and inability to geo-

locate nodes critical for covert users• Much research has went into highly directional-antenna (DA) 802.11

networks• Introduces complications from need to perform topology management

(particularly for multi-hop communications)


Slide 17

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• MANET and DA-MANET operations• Most useful application of mesh networking is in a MANET setting• MANET operations have significant implications for ALL layers of

protocol stack (PHY, MAC, Network, Transport, and Application)• Effective solutions for any layer cannot be designed in isolation of the

other various layers• Efforts ongoing within other communities to develop MANET

solutions• IETF: MANET routing, Mobile IP

• Highly beneficial if IEEE PHY/MAC mesh networking technology specifications tightly coupled with IETF MANET and Mobility activities (and vice-versa)

• Not that one design should drive the other, but both technologies should be designed in a collaborative environment


Slide 18

September 2004


doc.: IEEE 802.11-04/1016r0


• Mesh networks will be an integral part of tomorrow’s network-centric Military force

• Such networks meet some of the key needs of the Military:• Intelligent, automatic network configuration and maintenance• Distributed architecture reduces the risk of a single point of failure• Scalable mesh network protocol design allows for range extension and robust redundant routes• Mobility support enables the required flexibility of units to move within the battlefield and

provide instant networking capability where needed the most at the current time• Affordable units are embedded with the necessary hardware and software to enable instant

mesh networking, minimizing or eliminating infrastructure deployment and maintenance• Open issues for Military mesh networks

• End-to-End QoS• Support of MANET routing protocols• Adaptability• Security

• Way forward• Should a more comprehensive document describing Military needs for mesh networking

be pursued or integrated into existing documents (Usage Cases?)

Conclusion

Slide 19

11 04 1016-00-000s usage cases and functional requirements mesh networking military perspective

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