The Information Systems Office (ISO) at DARPA develops, applies, integrates, and transitions information technology and systems to enable domination of the battlespace. To that end, ISO is engaged in three thrusts: comprehensive battlespace awareness; intelligent and timely force management and battle execution; and, realistic and affordable simulation for training, mission rehearsal, and course of action evaluation. In each thrust, ISO concentrates on enduring and future threats and solutions. The development approach involves creating the next generation of infrastructure, technology, and applications to build, sustain, and maintain a tightly-coupled system of systems. ISO information systems drive evolving concepts and doctrine for implementing a new warfare paradigm in which knowledge, not mass and fire power, is key to battlespace dominance across the ever-expanding spectrum of conflict. DARPA views its Battlespace Awareness Program as the catalyst for accelerating the implementation of a continually-evolving system of information technology that will enable the information-based warfare paradigm described above. The roadmap being followed by DARPA is to design, develop and transition a pilot infrastructure of information systems that can be used to enable emerging new operational concepts and guide future system developments and acquisitions. This infrastructure requires integrated system applications and a common information support environment.

The concept of the U.S. Army's digital battlefield is presented. Also, newly proposed concepts for leading edge strike forces that are needed to cope with modern conflicts are described. The implictions on sensors due to these new concepts are discussed, especially in light of new, unique applications, such as the individual soldier system, combat identification and military operations in urban terrain. The special consideration of image transmission from sensor to shooter or commander is addressed. Sensor trade-offs for the digital battlefield are being made and prototype sensor system demonstrators are being fabricated for testing and operational evaluation.

The BADD program is an advanced concepts technology demonstration (ACTD) program sponsored by DARPA. The program is being worked by a team of contractors led by Computing Devices International (CDInt). The objective of BADD is to develop and demonstrate a commander's information system which provides unprecedented battlefield awareness information to the warfighter in near real-time. This paper describes the BADD architecture, the planned demonstrations and program status.

An important element of the DoD's approach to battlefield digitization is the development of new systems that disseminate information by direct broadcast satellite (DBS). The Global Broadcast Service (GBS) is the premiere program providing new capabilities for data broadcasting. Techniques for enabling legacy applications to transmit data over GBS also provide guidance for developers of new information systems and providers of commercial DBS services. Unique network management requirements arise from the need to apportion communication resources to optimize the availability of critical information for the end-user. To obtain peak peformance, applications that transfer data by DBS will need support to accommodate scheduling of broadcast transmissions with appropriate qualities of service. This paper describes reference models and architectures for designing DBS communication services that realize the benefits of managing access to the data broadcast. New and legacy applications are able to use standard protocols to communicate with the help of broadcast management clients that set up DBS communication sessions using meta-signaling techniques. The concepts outline how to define a broadcast service that transparently converts point-to-point application data streams into point-to- multipoint streams.

The objective of the DARPA battlefield awareness data dissemination (BADD) program is to deliver battlefield awareness information to the warfighter -- anywhere, anytime. BADD is an advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD) to support proof of concept technology demonstrations and experiments with a goal of introducing new technology to support the operational needs and acceptance of the warfighter. BADD's information management technology provides a 'smart' push of information to the users by providing information subscription services implemented via user- generated profiles. The system also provides services for warfighter pull or 'reach-back' of information via ad hoc query support. The high bandwidth delivery of informtion via the Global Broadcast System (GBS) satellites enables users to receive battlefield awareness information virtually anywhere. Very similar goals have been established for data warehousing technology -- that is, deliver the right information, to the right user, at the right time so that effective decisions can be made. In this paper, we examine the BADD Phase II architecture and underlying information management technoloyg in the context of data warehousing technology and a data warehouse reference architecture. In particular, we foucs on the BADD segment that PSR is building, the Interface to Information Sources (I2S).

The quantity and quality of data collected by military and commercial electro-optic and radar sensors is rapidly increasing. This increase in imagery data has not been accompanied by an increase in the number of image analysts needed to rapidly screen the imagery to locate and identify military targets or other objects of interest. Automatic target recognition (ATR) technology that automates the target detection, classification, and identification process has been a promising technology for at least two decades, and recent advances make the realization of aided target recognition possible. The future military battlespace will be filled with airborne, spaceborne, and land-based sensors observing moving and stationary targets at various locations, from multiple aspects, and at multiple frequencies and wavelengths. Only through the use of computer-assisted data analysis and ATR can the vast amount of data be analyzed within the timelines required by the military. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has a number of programs developing technology to support the exploitation and control of the future battlespace information.

The DARPA Battlefield Awareness and Data Dissemination (BADD) Phase II Program will provide the next generation multimedia information management architecture to support the warfighter. One goal of this architecture is proactive dissemination of information to the warfighter through strategies such as multicast and 'smart push and pull' designed to minimize latency and make maximum use of available communications bandwidth. Another goal is to support integration of information from widely distributed legacy repositories. This will enable the next generation of battlefield awareness applications to form a common operational view of the battlefield to aid joint service and/or multi-national peacekeeping forces. This paper discusses the approach we are taking to realize such an architecture for BADD. Our architecture and its implementation, known as the Distributed Dissemination Serivces (DDS) are based on two key concepts: a global database schema and an intelligent, proactive caching scheme. A global schema provides a common logical view of the information space in which the warfighter operates. This schema (or subsets of it) is shared by all warfighters through a distributed object database providing local access to all relevant metadata. This approach provides both scalability to a large number of warfighters, and it supports tethered as well as autonomous operations. By utilizing DDS information integration services that provide transparent access to legacy databases, related information from multiple 'stovepipe' systems are now available to battlefield awareness applications. The second key concept embedded in our architecture is an intelligent, hierarchical caching system supported by proactive dissemination management services which push both lightweight and heavyweight data such as imagery and video to warfighters based on their information profiles. The goal of this approach is to transparently and proactively stage data which is likely to be requested by the warfighter in caches which are physically close to the warfighter. Through a global schema and intelligent caching, the BADD DDS architecture will provide a virtual information repository in which warfighter access to information is both fast and transparent with respect to its original source.

Some of the key problems in providing network interfaces to tactical communications (NITC) relate to interoperability among tactical communications networks; efficient use of the limited bandwidth and limited on-the-move abilities of today's tactical communications systems; and the need to extend the 'reach' of the tactical communications by augmenting IP capabilities. The problems get even more difficult and complex when interconnection of disparate users and heterogeneous networks for multiple services is needed to form a combined, seamless communications infrastructure. This paper examines these problems and issues, identifies an objective architecture for the NITC, and develops a time-phased approach to accomplish the objective.

Communications are essential to support today's information- rich tactics with distributed forces in a non-linear battlespace. Rapid deployment requirements and limited air/sea lift capability makes it difficult to transport and emplace communications infrastructure equipment in a timely manner. Furthermore, mobile forces quickly out-run fixed communications infrastructure and lose contact with command, support, and intelligence sources. What is needed is a reliable, easily deployed theater-wide communications network to provide the connectivity to separated forces; a mechanism for supplying this is a network of airborne communications nodes. A UAV flying at high altitude (65,000 ft) can provide line of sight connectivity (at up to 150 mi radius) between users that are not within line of sight of each other, and could relay communications through ground or on-board satellite gateways to provide world-wide connectivity. Since a high-altitude, long-endurance UAV (such as the Global Hawk) self-deploys from a great distance, there is no local infrastructure burden to provide this capability. Furthermore, since the range to the ground is relatively short, communications links can be established with even hand-held, low-power radios; heavy ground communications gear is not needed. This paper explores the utility of the UAV communication node concept, discussing applications, capabilities, and networking possibilities. In particular, UAVs, other aircraft, and selected ground sites could provide a backbone network for data communications on a 'warfighter's Internet.'

Modern tactical communications systems rely on radios to support network and user connectivity. One of the challenges for network planners and managers is to make best use of scarce and vulnerable frequency spectrum resources to support the communication needs of war fighters. With the wide variety of Iris radio types typically to be deployed in the battlefield (ranging from high frequency to super high frequency), a comprehensive suite of tools is necessary to ensure that frequency interference is kept minimum. Without a sophisticated frequency spectrum management system, the most advanced tactical communications systems could be rendered useless, jeopardizing human life and national security. For these reasons, it is important to develop an Iris wide battlefield spectrum management capability that takes full advantage of current frequency spectrum management research and development (R&D), related tools, and supporting technology for assigning frequencies. This session briefly describes various assignment strategies being adopted in the Iris BFSM for overcoming cosite/collocated/farsite interferences along with the propagation models [from high frequency (HF) to super high frequency (SHF)] used for the assignment of frequencies. Also a brief thread outlining the process for generating frequency allocation/assignment request and analysis of frequency interference is discussed.

This paper describes the use of OSI/CCITT X.700 series system management standards to provide a unified system management architecture for the Iris tactical communications system being procured by the Canadian Army. Due to the complexity and dynamic nature of the Iris radio system, the realization of Iris system management required an innovative tailoring of EUROCOM D/Os concept and a creative application of OSI system management standards. It was soon found that EUROCOM D/O could benefit readily from the application of OSI system management standards. System management is concerned with the monitoring and control of resources. This paper seeks to answer the following questions concerning Iris system management: (1) How should the management view of the resources be described? (2) What should be the management operations on the resources? (3) Given that there are standards which address the above questions, how can the standards be applied to a military environment? The following sections include a brief overview of EUROCOM D/O and OSI system management standards, and a description of the standards tailored to the realization of Iris system management.

The need to transmit images across tactical radio frequency (rf) links has been identified in army digitization applications. For example, military doctrine requires that tactical functions like identification of battlefield entities as potential targets and battle damage assessment be performed by the soldier. Currently, a key input to these processes is imagery. Therefore, the quality and timeliness of the image directly impact tactical performance. The military is investigating the employment of remote sensors and advanced communications systems to meet this requirement as part of its digitization effort. Army communications systems exist that partially meet this requirement. However, many existing solutions employ these legacy systems in the context of a point-to-point communications architecture. Solutions to the problem of transmitting images across a rf network have not been fully explored. The term network implies that the rf transmission media is common to and shared by multiple subscribers. It is a suite of capabilities that collectively manage media access and information transfer for its subscribers thus providing substantial improvements in effectiveness, efficiency, and robustness. This paper discusses the challenges of transmitting images using one army legacy communications system in a tactical rf network, presents a conceptual framework for attacking the problem, and discusses one solution.

The Situation Server is that part ofthe GCCS LES architecture and the Dynamic Multi-User Fusion System (DMIF) responsible for managing incomplete, uncertain, and unreliable situation data. It serves as a single point of access for situation information, identifies and values infonnation requirements, monitors for complex conditions of interest, and manages the distribution and viewing of information at geographically distributed sites. Within the GCCS LES architecture, the C31 Schema classes defme the language that architecturally compliant applications use to share information. Among the classes defmed within the C31 schema are those for entities, organizations, material, plans, intelligence, communications, situations. The C31 classes for situations represent the types, locations, capabilities, activities, and objectives of adversary forces. A DARPA-sponsored Object Management Working group (OMWG) is currently upgrading the C31 schema classes for representing situations and situation uncertainty. This representation must include all important possible interpretations of the data, must specify all relevant uncertainties, must link each interpretation to supporting and contradictory evidence, and must separately maintain specialized representations needed to support different fusion processes. In the design described in this paper, the situation classes are divided into two broad categories: those the describe the types of entities that may be in a situation, and those designed to represent uncertain beliefs about these entities. Keywords: situation assessment, situation representation, uncertainty representation, information fusion

The rapid targeting system (RTS) has been in operation at the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) in Vicenza, Italy since June 1996. RTS provides sensor-to-shooter support to the CAOC Battle Staff Director. Since June 1996, RTS has been involved in over 200 operational training sorties flown for Operation Decisive Endeavour and the newly created Operation Deliberate Guard. Training sorties have been run with U.S. Air Force F- 15Es, U.S. Navy F/A-18Ds and A-6s, and U.S. Marine Corps F/A- 18D aircraft. RTS provides these aircraft with near-real-time imagery of mobile and stationary targets from the U-2, JSTARS, Predator UAV, GNAT, Tactical Reconnaissance, and National Reconnaissance sensors. In response to Air South requests, RTS was recently used in conjunction with the 48th Fighter Wing, 492nd Fighter Squadron during a two week deployment from Lakenheath Air Base, UK to Aviano Air Base, Italy.

To modernize the army for the 21st century, the U.S. Army Digitization Office (ADO) initiated in 1995 the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below (FBCB2) Applique program which became a centerpiece in the U.S. Army's master plan to win future information wars. The Applique team led by TRW fielded a 'tactical Internet' for Brigade and below command to demonstrate the advantages of 'shared situation awareness' and battlefield digitization in advanced war-fighting experiments (AWE) to be conducted in March 1997 at the Army's National Training Center in California. Computing Devices is designated the primary hardware developer for the militarized version of the battlefield awareness computers. The first generation of militarized battlefield awareness computer, designated as the V3 computer, was an integration of off-the-shelf components developed to meet the agressive delivery requirements of the Task Force XXI AWE. The design efficiency and cost effectiveness of the computer hardware were secondary in importance to delivery deadlines imposed by the March 1997 AWE. However, declining defense budgets will impose cost constraints on the Force XXI production hardware that can only be met by rigorous value engineering to further improve design optimization for battlefield awareness without compromising the level of reliability the military has come to expect in modern military hardened vetronics. To answer the Army's needs for a more cost effective computing solution, Computing Devices developed a second generation 'combat ready' battlefield awareness computer, designated the V3+, which is designed specifically to meet the upcoming demands of Force XXI (FBCB2) and beyond. The primary design objective is to achieve a technologically superior design, value engineered to strike an optimal balance between reliability, life cycle cost, and procurement cost. Recognizing that the diverse digitization demands of Force XXI cannot be adequately met by any one computer hardware solution, Computing Devices is planning to develop a notebook sized military computer designed for space limited vehicle-mounted applications, as well as a high-performance portable workstation equipped with a 19', full color, ultra-high resolution and high brightness active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) targeting the command posts and tactical operations centers (TOC) applications. Together with the wearable computers Computing Devices developed at the Minneapolis facility for dismounted soldiers, Computing Devices will have a complete suite of interoperable battlefield awareness computers spanning the entire spectrum of battle digitization operating environments. Although this paper's primary focus is on a second generation 'combat ready' battlefield awareness computer or the V3+, this paper also briefly discusses the extension of the V3+ architecture to address the needs of the embedded and command post applications.3080

Timely battlefield digitization and battlespace visualization is a requirement to keep pace with ever-diminishing military decision cycle times driven by evolving weapons systems and pacing military doctrine for Force XXI. One ingredient to battlefield situation awareness is imagery intelligence. This paper proposes a novel architecture for an imagery analysis environment to seamlessly provide imagery intelligence. A critical component of this proposed architecture is emerging intelligent software agent technology levering human-computer interface (HCI) technology. This combination enables a modular, scaleable, and reconfigurable battlefield situation awareness and exploitation environment. The consequent impact of this paper is the definition of an entirely new method to support military intelligence, planning and execution processes. The proposed architecture effectively provides real-time/near real-time sensor fusion, sensor management, and battle management in a single collaborative environment. This paper provides the design and describes the technologies necessary to make this system a reality. The proposed design employs the following emerging technologies: . open agent architecture --information gathering/data mining, processing, and dynamic aggregation of agents; S multimodal data entry with command and query interfaces -- interact/communicatethrough voice, writing or gestures; . speechrecognition and natural language understanding --speech recognition and speech-to-text translation; . proceduraland evidential reasoning --dynamic process control, planning, spatial reasoning, and correlation and behavior; and . collaboration — shared work space and applications, wireless and hardwired networks, multiple and distributed participants In the image analyst-centric environment, this state-of-the-art system will manage automatic and assisted target recognition, and imagery exploitation components, while providing a system capable of ingesting and fusing available tactical, national, and commercial imagery sources. It will also enable fusing multi-intelligence source data. With the addition of collaboration and shared multimedia display the system is capable of redefining the interactive imagery exploitation paradigm. Further, in a military doctrinal sense, our proposed concept provides the potential to blur the dividing line between operational command and control (C2) and its supporting intelligence activities. Keywords: intelligent software agents, human-computer interface, situation awareness, imagery exploitation, collaboration

This paper presents a generic model for situation and threat assessment influenced by the human's mental processing. The model evolved from a three level descriptive model of situation awareness, where the first level is concerned with perception of the elements in the environment, the second level concerns comprehension of the current situation and the last level deals with projection of future states of the situation. This model leads us to a high-level functional decomposition of a multilevel Situation and Threat Assessment process. The context is naval warfare where shipboard commanders and their staff require access to a wide range of information to carry out their duties. The purpose is to support the human to assess the situation and the threat by the automation of some higher level cognitive processing currently done by the human. KEYWORDS : Situation and Threat Assessment, Situation Awareness, Data Fusion, Information Fusion, Cognitive Processing, Information Management.

Technological advances in threat technology, the increasing tempo and diversity of open-ocean and littoral scenarios, and the volume and imperfect nature of data to be processed under time-critical conditions pose significant challenges for future shipboard Command and Control Systems and operators who must use these systems to defend their ship and fulfil their mission. To address these challenges, we are investigating design concepts for a real-time decision support system that continuously fuses data from the ship's sensors and other sources, helps operators maintain a tactical situation picture, and supports their response to actual or anticipated threats. This paper is concerned with support for weapon engagement management in above-water warfare that forms part of the system. The manager plans and directs in real time actions involving use of hardkill and softkill weapons to counter air and surface threats. We propose an agent architecture that dynamically interleaves planning and execution, as it adapts to unanticipated changes in the tactical situation. The architecture integrates both reactive and deliberative planning. Deliberation is based on projecting the currently perceived situation and may incorporate plan contingencies to handle action outcome and situation uncertainty. Reactive planning is driven by precompiled stimulus-response knowledge (e.g., standard operating procedures). Local control of architectural components to allow for varying computational resources and time criticality for producing deliberative plans is also briefly examined. Keywords: weapon engagement management, command and control system, real-time decision support, agent architecture, planning.

Joint Vision 2010 is the conceptual template for how the United States Department of Defense will leverage technological opportunities to achieve new levels of effectiveness in joint warfightmg. Battlefield digitization is a key component of this vision. In the Crewman's Associate Advanced Technology Demonstration (AiD), crewstations for ground combat vehicles were developed that allow the soldier to use digitization to maximize weapon system performance. Keywords: crewstation, digitization, human-computer interface, simulation

A Human Computer Interface HCI research program is being conducted collaboratively between Rockwell, its Consortium Members and the Army Research Laboratory. The research is exploring human-computer interfaces and displays to dramatically improve the interface between Army users and their information systems. This critical link to the human must be maximized to enable the Army to fully leverage its investments in information hardware and systems for the Digitization ofthe Battlefield and the Army After Next. Research is being conducted in the areas of databases, information filtering, visualization, augmented reality, and virtual reality. It also includes the integration of novel interfaces like gesture recognition and tactile to improve the overall throughput and reliability. Constructs, algorithms and techniques are being developed to provide users common views of the battlefield regardless of the display system utilized. Future systems must consider the human to maximize the conversion of data and information into usable knowledge.

The Integrated Sight (IS) is a target acquisition and location device being developed by Texas Instruments, Inc. and the US Army CECOM RDEC Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate. The system integrates an uncooled thermal imager, a CCD camera, an eyesafe laser rangefinder, an JR pointer, and an electronic compass into a single weapon sight. It will mount on current small arms and can be used in a handheld or tripod mode. Its primary purpose is to allow individual soldiers to locate targets day and night and to precisely detennine their location. Standardized interfaces allow the targeting data to be transmitted automatically to the Land Warrior's computer/radio (which includes a GPS module) to call for indirect fire and frames of video (visual and infrared) to be transmitted to higher echelons for analysis. The version being developed is optimized for individual served weapons such as the M16 series of rifles and aids in laying down accurate direct fire. The IS is a Technology Demonstration program that is part of the Force XXI Land Warrior Program. This paper describes the technologies and design of the Integrated Sight and its application as a low cost advanced sensor for the digitized battlefield. Keywords: Integrated Sight, weaponsight, thermal imager, laser rangefinder, electronic compass, CCD camera, laser pointer, Land Warrior, Force XXI Land Warrior

This paper documents the design and testing of a prototype laser/radio frequency (RF) Soldier Identification (ID) System developed by Dynetics, Inc., Harris, Corp., and the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM). The Soldier ID system consists of an Interrogation Unit, a Responder Unit, and a Programming Unit. The Interrogation Unit consists of a directive, eyesafe laser and a spread-spectrum RF transceiver. This allows for a low probability of intercept (LPI) interrogation, which is of interest during covert operations. A Responder Unit is worn, for example, by a soldier and transmits an LPI spread-spectrum RF response, only after receiving the proper interrogation codes. The operating principles for the subsystem are reviewed, and key design issues are presented. In addition, both breadboard and prototype test results are presented.

For a forward observer to effectively direct ordinance delivery on targets, precise target location information is required. The determination oftarget coordinates involves many variables which previously have been difficult to determine precisely. The recently developed Litton Laser Systems Mark VII eyesafe laser target locator incorporates advanced laser technology and a unique switchable thy/night vision optical design, plus an imbedded digital magnetic compass, to provide digital data output for accurate target location detennination. With the Mark VII RS-232 output connected to a PLGR (Precision Light Weight GPS Receiver), the PLGR will convert the Mark VII data into accurate coordinates for battlefield use. One recent implementation ofthis target location capability was the QRC (Quick Reaction Capability) development ofthe Close Air Support Integrated Targeting System (CITS) for the US Air Force Project Sure Strike, in support ofthe United Nations peace keeping effort in Bosnia. For this configuration, a Litton Data Systems Handheld Terminal Unit was integrated with the Mark VII and PLGR to collect target location data and, through utilization ofa PRC-113 radio, digitally transmit this information to an F-16 Aircraft. In the aircraft, a target "box" would then automatically be displayed around the target in the pilot's heads up display, allowing him to rapidly and accurately initiate engagement. KEYWORDS: laser target locator, eyesafe rangefinding, handheld laser, Sure Strike

The conventional approach to military vetronics design uses military components which typically lag their commercial counterparts by a couple of years and are generally limited in functional integration. A new paradigm is now emerging in the US military to leverage the commercial technology investment and technical innovations in PC based hardware and software developments. This paradigm has instigated major semiconductor vendors such as Motorola and Intel to exit the military market and henceforth accentuate the need to be innovative in repackaging commercial . components to operate over extended temperatures. The concept presented in this paper consists of a militarized Pentium based general purpose Single Board Computer (SBC) using commercial components. This design incorporates an open architecture (PCI high speed bus, VMEbus) and expansion through the IEEE P1386.1' PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC) connector for peripherals such as Multimedia, Discrete I/O, MIL-STD-1553B2, Global Positioning Satellite System (GPS), etc. These features will contribute to the realization of the "Tactical Internet" which is an integral part of the US army digitized battlefield initiative. Keywords: digitized battlefield, militarized, COTS, open architecture, PC Compatible, PCI, PMC expansion, VME

Future global broadcast systems (GBS) using high power digital direct broadcast satellites (DBS) will need to accommodate a large and continuously growing number of users. This user community will have extremely diverse information needs and diverse information processing capabilities. The number of sources of information will also become very large. The GBS route of information distribution is a reliable and inexpensive method to distribute large volumes of data to large numbers of users simultaneously. The GBS community of information providers and information consumers is, like the Internet, starting out tightly controlled by the United States Department of Defense. The example of the Internet has taught us that information distribution technologies will continue to be in growing demand by a very wide community. The challenge to wide use of GBS is how to control distribution of, and access to, broadcast data products. Hierarchical information management (HIM) is a method to allow diverse users of GBS to have individualized access to data that is appropriate for them to receive and fits their domain of interest. HIM will also ensure that their data processing equipment can process or view the data products.