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Traffic Prioritization in Tactical Networks Aligned with Commander
Navy SBIR 2012.1 - Topic N121-098 ONR - Ms. Tracy Frost - [email protected] Opens: December 12, 2011 - Closes: January 11, 2012 N121-098 TITLE: Traffic Prioritization in Tactical Networks Aligned with Commander TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Dynamic Tactical Communication Networks (FNT 09-02) OBJECTIVE: The objective of this effort is to develop and align traffic prioritization mechanisms/techniques in tactical networks with Commander's Intent, assuring the delivery of mission-critical traffic under adverse conditions. DESCRIPTION: The tactical environment contains a unique set of conditions including highly dynamic missions being executed in disconnected, intermittent or limited communication environment. These conditions require traffic prioritization mechanisms/techniques and the ability to orchestrate these techniques to ensure that network priorities are aligned with Commander�s Intent. Commander's Intent is a concise expression of the purpose of the operation and the desired end state. Network policies must be aligned with and support achieving the desired operational end state. Tactical networks typically contain an admixture of critical, essential, and non-essential traffic. Criticality of the traffic depends on the types of missions that are currently being executed, and is, consequently, highly dynamic. For example, a humanitarian assistance/disaster relief operation (e.g., tsunami, earthquake) will have very different priorities than a low-intensity conflict. The situation is further complicated by the fact that geographically-dispersed, tactical forces participating in different operations, with different mission assignments, may very well be terminated at the same network operations center for their services. These operational challenges require technical solutions for identifying different types of traffic, associating each traffic type with specific platforms and functions/missions, enabling the Commander to prioritize these functions/missions, and translating the Commander�s prioritization into network policies that can be implemented across the network to ensure that mission-critical traffic is delivered before traffic of lesser importance. The commercial sector relies primarily on fixed, terrestrial networks and can either easily procure more resources to alleviate congestion or add redundancy. For truly mission-critical traffic, the commercial sector builds dedicated networks with dedicated resources to guarantee performance; therefore, the commercial sector has not placed significant emphasis on prioritization mechanisms and how to orchestrate their employment across the network to ensure end-to-end delivery of mission-critical traffic. Military users do not have these commercial advantages and, consequently, require traffic prioritization mechanisms to assure the delivery of mission-critical traffic under adverse conditions. PHASE I: Define traffic prioritization mechanisms/techniques that will be employed across a tactical network, outline how Commander's Intent will be articulated through policy using these approaches/techniques, explain how policy conflicts will be resolved, and provide preliminary assessment of the overall approach, to include the operational utility. A key aspect of this effort will be to define the metrics that will be used to assess the overall approach because, ultimately, the utility of the operational system will be measured on how well it is able to satisfy Commander's Intent. PHASE II: Mature the prioritization mechanisms/techniques and demonstrate an ability to prioritize traffic, aligned with Commander's Intent, in a simulation, using off-the-shelf software (e.g., OPNET, NS3, QualNet, etc.), in a variety of environments and scales. The environments must reflect disconnected, intermittent or limited communications to understand how well the proposed approach mitigates the adverse effects of these environments. The simulation must include a sufficient number of platforms and facilities to reflect tactical operations in a theater. PHASE III: Develop the appropriate user interface and tools that will leverage the prioritization mechanisms/techniques matured in Phase II. Implement this user interface and back-end device controls to achieve the desired prioritization in systems representative of the planned transition program(s) of record. PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: The commercial sector relies primarily on fixed, terrestrial networks and can either easily procure more resources to alleviate congestion or add redundancy. However, the technology developed under this proposal could be applied to mobile computing and telecommunications applications as well as emergency response situations. REFERENCES: 2. Braz, K.A.; Payne, A.T.; Julasak, C.; Mission-oriented NETOPS: an operational framework for coordinated planning, analysis, activation, monitoring, and response for current and transformational networks; Military Communications Conference, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MILCOM.2005.1605767 KEYWORDS: quality of service; traffic prioritization; tactical network; Commander's Intent
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