Airborne networks are a flying Tower of Babel, where users cannot communicate with each other.
“Many current airborne radio networks are incompatible with each other, the result of security and radio frequency (RF) format differences between aircraft types,” notes a DARPA news release. “Specialized data-link gateways facilitate communication across network divides, but these gateways have limited capability and don’t allow high-data-rate information to flow freely and seamlessly among multiple types of manned and unmanned aircraft.”
DARPA’s Dynamic Network Adaptation for Mission Optimization (DyNAMO) project aims to remedy this. The goal of the solicitation is technology that will enable different networks to share data, and do so in a jamming environment. It should work with existing static networks as well as future adaptive networks.
“Current airborne networks are not designed to handle the complexities of modern distributed and dynamic combat missions, and the challenge is only going to increase in the years ahead,” said program manager Wayne Phoel. “DyNAMO’s goal is to enable pilots in type of aircraft with a specific suite of sensors to easily share information with different types of manned and unmanned systems and also receive sensor information from those various platforms for a comprehensive view of the battlespace. We aim to develop technology that dynamically adapts networks to enable instantaneous free-flow of information among all airborne systems, at the appropriate security level and in the face of active jamming by an adversary.”
DyNAMO network technology will be demonstrated on radio hardware being developed by DARPA’s Communications in Contested Environments (C2E) program.
FREE WEBCAST: Learn how military planners are strengthening networks with NETCOM’s COL David Isaacson on Oct. 29
