Fiber optic local area networks-a part of the future ATCCS architecture

The Army Tactical Command and Control System (ATCCS) local area network (LAN) is currently based on a commercial Ethernet data interface independent of circuit switched voice subscriber circuits. An evolution which will utilize a mixture of fiber optic wireless LAN technologies and existing US Army communication assets to support data users, followed by complete integration of all services in the local area, is anticipated. The authors describe how the proposed evolution to fiber optic networks in the ATCCS LAN architecture can be accomplished and how the army´s Advanced Technology Demonstration Program (ATD) can be utilized to ensure that fiber optic networks will be compatible with existing military communicates. A proposed application of the current Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) standard to support real-time voice and video services, in addition to data, in a format compatible with the army´s evolving ATCCS LAN architecture, is discussed