Evolution of military networking for support and mission environments

Abstract

This paper defines a road map that military networking technology has been following when providing services to support and mission networks. Paper starts with a phase when everything was connected by telephone. Then is covers two phases of providing more bandwidth. Further leap to connecting People and Things is described. A possible future is defined in connecting information. The networking road map is defined to help in ICT strategy work in defining current situation and journey to possible end state.

Introduction

Military Information and Communication Technology has evolved through decades in keeping the separation between networking, computing, information security and information management quire clear. Now evolution is reaching towards more convergent ICT structures and there is a special awareness needed to include these requirements into military ICT strategies.

This paper belongs in a series of papers that are describing the road maps of each technology layer especially in military support and mission networks as pictured in following figure 1.

Figure 1: Orientation for military ICT domains

This paper focuses on military support and mission networks like USA’s APAN[1], NIPRNET[2], SIPRNET[3] and NATO’s AMN[4], FMN[5]. This paper is not explaining Internet or evolution in governmental extranet nor in any military tactical networks.

This paper defines the major technical evolutionary path of each layer of technology and describes some short cuts that some military organisations have been able to take with more revolutionary goals. Paper provides tools to do strategic diagnosis by describing possible paths on both separate and integrated road map where interrelations and challenges may be easier identified.

Orientation to Military ICT road maps

There is a possibility to create a description of general evolution of Information and Communications Technology, ICT in military support and mission information environments. A generic evolution is depicted with four aligned roads of Networking, Computing, IT securing and Information Management in figure 2.

Figure 2: Roads of military CIT evolution

This paper is describing the sub-roadmap for military networking more in detail. See other sub-maps or description of all roads in other papers of ICT road maps by the same author.

Description of evolutionary path for Military Networking

Evolution of Military Networking in support and mission environments has seen the following stages illustrated in figure 2.

Simple connection and switching over telephone system

 The evolution of Networking in Military support and decision making started within garrison or camp by introduction of Private Automated Branch Exchange, PABX.

PABX provided all needed switching services for both voice and data.

Access was simple analogue subscriber line and later digital, DSL with either telephone apparatus for voice or modem for connecting computers.

PABX’s were connected to one another by transport network mainly based on Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy, PDH technology providing 2 Mbps digital trunks with E1 connection. If more was needed then E2 and E3 provided n-times E1 circuits.

Network was fixed and services were local.

Later exchanges become Integrated Services Digital Network, ISDN compatible and connections were baseband 2B+D which provided 2x64 kbps for communications + 32 kbps for signalling.

Wireless communications was enabled by professional trunk radio systems, first analogy and then digital.

Trunk encryption at E1 level provided site to site confidentiality and analogue/digital encryption devices attached to subscriber line or apparatus itself to provide end to end security.

Technicians specialised either PABX or PDH areas of technology.

Connecting sites with everything over E1 or STM 1

 As garrisons, camps and bases were utilising more computers and electronic devices, there was a need to have more bandwidth between sites. The core trunk network was updated by Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, SDH network that provided STM 1 base connection with 155 Mbps bandwidth. More 155 Mbps circuits were provided with STM 4, 16 and higher bandwidth.

Most network devices were attached by means of E1 or STM 1 connections and stable circuits were established between sites. Those devices were switches, routers, terminal servers, etc. and number and complexity of access configuration was increased.

Voice services were provided with advanced ISDN PBX’s but computers were connected with Local Area Network, LAN to Wide Area Network, WAN.

Usually each new system or new connection was established by allocating new circuit of either E1 or STM 1 level. This meant that new performance was quickly allocated but not effectively used.

WAN Data communications was developed with more powerful IP[6], NSA[7] or DECNET[8] routers, Asynchronous Transfer Mode cell switches or Fibre Channel, FC in Storage Area Networks, SAN. LAN bandwidth was increased from 10 Mbps Ethernet by 100 ME and FDDI to 100 Mbps gross speed. Wireless LAN access was introduced, but since communication people could not provide sufficient encryption and IT people were not interested to have encryption at session level, it was not popular in military organisations.

Terrestrial Trunked Radio, TETRA was introduced enabled by two competing standards TETRA 25 and TETRAPOL. It provided both push-to-talk (50 ms for circuit to be established) communications, normal mobile phone and short data messages. TETRA area networks replaced all smaller and incompatible trunk radios both in operations (Radio Access Tetra, RAATE network was installed in Kosovo IFOR operation 2002[9]) and within national defence (Finland implemented VIRVE, the nationwide TETRA network by 2002[10]).

Satellite communications were deployed to operations. Trunk connections were provided with n x E1 connections and end-user connections by satellite phones.

New area of speciality for computer networks was created. Sometimes this was divided into LAN technicians and WAN technicians.

More bandwidth between sites and complex switching systems

 As military sites become using even more systems and the bandwidth allocation was based on separate circuit, more performance from trunk network was needed. More bandwidth was provided with Wavelength Division Multiplexing, WDM, which introduced more than one optical wavelength within same optical fibre pair giving n x 2.5 Gbps performance by wavelength.

Data communications is using major part of bandwidth and trying to get more routed packet throughput by introducing Multiprotocol Label Switching, MPLS and Metro Ethernet or Carrier Ethernet which can provide over 1 GE bandwidths between sites. Further Ethernet bandwidth has grown over 100 GE.

Access interface has become simpler since Ethernet RJ-45 port is least expensive to manufacture. Thus devices from phone to printer are connected to Ethernet by RJ-45.

PBX has turned to VOIP server and telephone devices are connected to LAN. Specific telephone cabling has vanished. Almost all other special cabling is also replaced by Ethernet cabling or wireless connections. Only some old systems still needed synchrony provided by PDH E1 or SDH STM 1 interface.

Satellite systems were modified to provide IP connection both for trunk and end-user.

PBX and telephone technicians vanished from job descriptions. Network structure become too complex to manage locally and Network Management Centres took more responsibility of both change and configuration management.

Connecting users to services

 As mobility and areal connectivity become more important than connecting only fixed sites networks evolved to two main purposes: core networks for connecting data centres and access networks to keep users connected all times.

Core networks:

·         Large bandwidth provided by Metro Ethernet over WDM was utilised between data centres to fulfilling high-Quality of Service, QoS requirements inside and between server structures. Specially distributed storage was requiring both constant bandwidth and controlled delays and jitters.

·         Large clusters required availability and more real-time from connections

·         Metro Ethernet provided bandwidth and fixed connections

·         MPLS provided connections to different protocols with specific QoS requirements.

·         Trunk encryption was cost-effective between fixed data centres either at layer 2 or layer 1.

Access networks

·         Wired and wireless connections were trunked to one transparent access layer with mobile IP protocol. End user device was able to roam from one medium to another without need to change the configuration on run.

·         LAN structure vanished from sites since there were no local services left. Points of connection were managed at areal level and access mediums were simplified.

·         Copper wires vanished from local sites and were substituted by fibre or wireless connections.

·         Physical access was simplified to RJ-45 connection and layer 2 protocol was Ethernet.

·         Typical access network in international operations was a combination of WiFi-connections within camp, IP-radio connections where practical and Satellite IP-connections where terrestrial connections did not reached. In some operations local 3G connections were applied also as cost-effective alternative to satellite.

·         Access connections encryption was integrated with Mobile IP implementation and done at session level.

Collaboration applications took over from VOIP phones. Audio and video services were integrated into IT terminals as applications.

Legacy technologies such as PDH, SDH, ATM, FDDI, FC and 100E vanished from networking technology map together with people that could not find new competence.

TETRA was substituted with wireless IP connections and computer telephone integration applications that were providing required push-to-talk connections.

Connecting information

 With Software Defined Networking, SDN both core networks and access networks become more flexible and transparent.

Core networks:

·         Network, Storage and Process integration that did already happen within Data Centre are extending to core WAN in similar way.

·         Over 100 GE connections are implemented between data centres sometimes directly over wavelength and with full connected networks that do not have connection level routing or relinking.

·         Connecting data centres become less important when connecting structured information items is providing more value.

·         New kinds of QoS parameters are used to connect information to information.

Access networks:

·         With Software Defined Radio and virtual antenna technologies access networks become more integrated. There is no clear division any more between civilian waveforms and military waveforms and their use in access networks. Waveforms are becoming independent of hardware, which is ending the monopoly of military radio device makers. Waveforms are becoming more important assets since they are portable from one hardware to another.

·         Access connection and peer-to-peer connection are converging. Networks are defined more ad hoc with zero configuration. More complex features are implemented at higher protocol layers since multi-medium connections are used.

·         Wireless becomes major access method both locally and in area of operation to enable full access to information while mobile.

Encryption specifies further to core and access. Core trunk encryption is after bandwidth and less delay whereas access and peer-to-peer is focusing higher layers, ad hoc and seamless operation. Encrypting at communications level is gradually vanishing since information items will have individual encryption.

There will be many other networks between Things in each specific platform like vehicles, VAN and people, PAN.

Networking technology experts are divided further to core and access specialists.

Figure 3: A Roadmap of Military Computing for Support and Mission networks

Leaps, shortcuts and revolutionary paths on networking map of possible roads

Military organizations have followed the very evolutionary path but also made some leaps, even revolutionary, by stepping over several stages. There are two longer leaps in evolutionary path that need extra effort:

1.    From connecting sites to users with services

·         Connecting sites is very deep in military and also in teleoperator culture. It takes extra effort to change network operator from very site connector to provide areal access connections and special core network services for data only.

·         There is big cultural leap from telephone device to any data terminal having audio and video services. Fortunately civilian evolution supports this transformation and younger generations are not requiring telephone apparatus to be able to call each other.

·         Finland’s Defense Forces ICT rationalization program 2004 – 2007 achieved to jump from connecting sites to connecting people and things.[11]

2.    From connecting Things to connecting information with information

·         Software Defined Networking is vanishing further boundaries between communications experts and IT experts. With converging management tools both networking, computing and storing becomes one infrastructure and requires new level of experts.

·         With information centered computing and information management all old principles of connecting Sites, connecting People and connecting Things are replaced by connecting Semantic and Intelligent Information.

·         There is no information that any military has succeeded in this leap. Sweden tried to take this path when they started their Revolution of Military Affairs early 2000.[12]

There are few possibilities for revolutionary shortcuts as follows:

·         There is possibility to jump from connecting sites to providing core and access connection services.

o   This means configuring existing networks and creating more centrally controlled access networks.

o   There is a need for courage to get rid of all unnecessary stacks of frames and protocols.

·         There is a possibility to jump over cloud and access networking directly to software defined networking.

o   Major enabler is new structure for information management.

o   Without transforming all information as semantic and structured, there is no way that neither networking nor computing may achieve in this leap.

Conclusion

When military have owned their transport networks, they have been as effected by evolution of commercial technology and business models of civilian teleoperators as when having all networking services provided by teleoperators. Military have been struggling with inability to act on evolving world and new user requirements from following the comfortable path of existing topology and just add more bandwidth.

The transformation from telecommunication networks to datacommunication networks has affected also military and caused low cost-effectiveness in using available bandwidth for years. Military organizations have had challenges in retraining their technical people as speed of evolution has removed aging technology with exponentially increasing pace.

As any other tele communications operator, military has had challenges to follow revolution in computing and data communications. Legacy ITU-T[13] engineering models have not survived under the pressure of more agile IETF[14] solutions.

Since there are few military that still own or have control over their transportation networks, it is imperative to see through the full stack of technology layers and try to align their development. This will give more capability out from investment and help in integrating different cultures of telecommunication and information technology.