Proposal for an ALM open architecture

The automatic link maintenance (ALM) provides the means to change link parameters of an established and ongoing link in order to keep the link alive and to exploit the available channels to the maximum extend possible. The ALM operation requires exchange of messages between two peer HF nodes. In order to allow for interoperability between systems provided by different manufacturers there is a need for standardisation of the ALM peer exchanges and of some ALM procedures. Also, in order to allow for future ALM competitive improvement there is a need for an ALM open and modular architecture. After a review of ALM functions, mapped as an example to the message exchange format or the currently available STANAG 5066 protocol, this paper proposes a start for such an ALM open and modular architecture