Building High-Tech Armor for Network-Centric Warfare

SNT’s breakthrough wireless network development technology enables rapid development of threat prevention and interrupt/disrupt defense capabilities.

As the breakneck pace of wireless networking deployment extends into the national defense and security frontier, a breakthrough technology is enabling network engineers and military operations planners to evaluate new components and deployment strategies to make net-centric operations more predictable and secure against external threats.

“Software virtual networks” (SVNs) dramatically reduce the cost and cycle time for evaluating new wireless network technologies — orders of magnitude below what has been possible until now.

Challenges in Upgrading Existing Communications Networks

Existing tactical communications networks, such as the Tactical Data Information Link (TADIL) J in use today by the U.S. armed services and the National Security Agency (NSA) as part of the NATO Link 16 system, lack the modern capability to route specific data packets to specific addresses. TADIL J only supports broadcasting, making it susceptible to malicious network-centric threats such as jamming and eavesdropping.

In the emerging Global Information Grid (GIG), packet-based, routable wireless networks based on the 802.11e standard enable new capabilities to integrate voice, data, and video information in real time on the battlefield. The vision of GIG as a seamless, secure, and interconnected information environment is supported by the NSA’s Information Assurance (IA) security services specifications. IA augments commercial wireless technologies to meet Department of Defense mission-critical requirements.

The advantages of adding IA to a proven commercial technology such as 802.11e instead of a less open, narrowly deployed technology like Link 16 are lower cost and faster deployment. Since commercial technologies are built on open standards, effective IA requires continuous assessment of encryption strength and susceptibility to malicious threats, attacks, and penetrations such as passive eavesdropping, denial-of-service, jamming, wormholes, and rushing attacks. It also requires detailed understanding of security in every layer of the wireless protocol stack: physical, media access control, network routing, transport/transmission, and applications.

The ongoing security challenge can be studied quite well with high fidelity simulation technology, such as QualNet, as well as emulation software such as EXata. QualNet and EXata get engineers to the answers faster by allowing them to test and evaluate emulated network components and systems in SVNs instead of costly and time-consuming physical testbeds built with prototype components and technologies.

Software Virtual Networks Replace Costly Testbeds

EXata uses a technology called true emulation to create SVNs, exact digital or “virtual” duplicates of live physical components in complex networks. Any hardware, software, or human user connected to this emulated network is not able to tell the difference between a real network component and its emulated replacement.

SVNs created in EXata deliver two substantial advantages over physical testbeds. First, emulation enables engineers to test and evaluate potential inter-operation solutions much earlier in the design process, at a fraction of the cost of physical testbeds. Emulation reduces cost by minimizing prototype iterations through the development cycle. It also eliminates the need to acquire large physical spaces within which to construct testbeds; you can’t test routing protocols or connectivity issues if all the radios are in the same room.

Second, EXata produces better predictability of actual performance because of engineers can test solutions against all potential environmental effects. As a result, many more potential solutions can be evaluated and more problems can be solved with fewer technical compromises.

Maintaining Technology Superiority — Faster and Less Costly

Using QualNet and EXata throughout the design and development process will lead to faster and better solutions to the ongoing need to maintain high security and availability in the face of combatant threats and advancing technology.

SNT’s technology will support the stability and security of the free world and maintain America’s preeminence as the world’s military superpower.