An Adaptive Broadband Mobile Ad-Hoc Radio Backbone System; DARPA NetCentric Demonstration - Ft. Benning, GA, January 2006

This paper describes a novel autonomously adaptive networked radio system that provides a broadband tactical mobile backbone to enable netcentric warfare. The system was successfully demonstrated to seamlessly interconnect multiple heterogeneous networked radio systems during the DARPA NetCentric (NC) demonstration at Ft. Benning, GA in January 2006, serving as the high availability terrestrial backbone link between dismount units that were otherwise beyond communications range. Real-time tactical voice, video, and situation awareness (SA) data were reliably delivered over the network to support the planning and execution of a simulated tactical mission with all radio network operation conducted by active duty US military personnel. Each NC node operated as a vehicular or airborne relay mobile ad-hoc router for the terrestrial backbone tactical network. Routing in each ground vehicle selected between this terrestrial backbone path and an alternate satellite backbone for assured line-of-sight (LoS) and beyond line-of-sight (BLoS) communications. The broadband mobile ad-hoc radio system incorporates many innovative networking features to deliver breakthrough capabilities. Multiple discontiguous 1.2 MHz wide bandwidth segments are aggregated into a single RF waveform to ease frequency planning in crowded UHF spectrum bands. The system provides both high data rate and long range communications by autonomously adapting each link in the ad-hoc network topology to deliver the maximum possible throughput under dynamically changing link conditions.