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Use of Live Virtual & Constructive (LVC) Technology for Large Scale Operational Tests of Net-Centric

Systems

Michael DiGennaro, Operational Test Command

Oral Walker, PEO-I

Sheetal Doshi, Scalable Network Technologies

Bradley Bressler, Scalable Network Technologies

Rajive Bagrodia, Scalable Network Technologies

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Problem-1: Scalability in Operational Tests

• OTC must establish that the network (or system) under test can operate in operationally relevant deployments based on specified requirements at scale.

• It is often hard, if not impossible, for OTC to have access to the needed number of physical radios to achieve the desired scale

• “How can we make 30 GMR live radios believe that they are a part of a 100 radio network?”

Problem-2: Realistic Network Loading• To stimulate a live NSUT (Network

System Under Test) with‘large-scale’ network traffic profile, M&S based tools are used by T&E community

• OneSAF C2 Adapter, C3 Driver, ExCIS generate C2/SA messages in the live message form as if they are being generated by additional units

• Messages injected directly into the live network assuming perfect comms between these additional units and live injection point

• Realistically, if these messages were to come over a live network of forces, fraction of these messages would be lost or suffer delays due to the wireless medium, unit mobility, and the radio network characteristics

• Perfect Communication based injection of these messages takes away the realistic nature of the operational test.

Traffic Injection into NUT assuming perfect communications

Traffic Injection reflecting impact of dynamic network connectivity, link bandwidth and channel quality

Units Moving out of radio range

BCNIS Overview• OTC’s Battle Command & Network Integration and Simulation

(BCNIS) is a test suite that augments a live tactical network with an ‘LVC capable’ constructive tactical network that consists of a seamlessly integrated set of component products that together provide the following set of functionalities in a LVC context:• Constructive Force Representation

• Constructive Network Representation in network simulation

• Tactical C2/SA Applications

• Interface to live network for LVC operation

• Achieves Realistic Network Loading by interfacing constructive radios with M&S based Tactical Message generators and providing realistic communication effects to these messages before being injected into the live NUT• Network Simulation employs high fidelity models of radios, wireless

channel effects and terrain

• Achieves Scalability for OT using Live Virtual Constructive representation to increase the size of the NUT

BCNIS Solution for Realistic Network LoadingBCNIS Solution for Realistic Network Loading

Provide realistic communication effects and network loading

Realistiically Comm Effected Tactical Messages

Realistiically Comm Effected Tactical Messages

Constructive Tactical Message Generators (e.g., C2 Adapter)

BCNIS Components: JNE

• JTRS Network Emulator (JNE) developed by Scalable Network Technologies (SNT) under a JTRS SBIR project funded jointly by JPEO, PEO Integration & Army OTC

• Constructive Radio Network running high fidelity models of the radios under test.• HWIL interface to connect to live networks • Real-time execution with parallel capability to scale to large numbers of radios • Interfaces to Live Tactical applications, C2/SA Message Generators, live Network Managers, and packet

analyzers• Interface to Semi-Automated Forces to control radio positions and mobility

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BCNIS Components: OneSAF

• Constructive Force Representation and Tactical Wargaming tool • Provides realistic maneuvers of constructive units based on

tactical decision-making

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BCNIS Components: Role Player Work Station

• Surrogate for the live Command & Control /Situational Awareness applications that run on the live side• C2 and SA messages from RPWS are injected into the constructive radio that it is mapped to run on

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BCNIS Components: OneSAF C2 Adapter

• Generates actual SA messages for the semi automated units in OneSAF

• These messages are injected into the corresponding constructive radios in JNE for realistic communication effects

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BCNIS Components: XPRT Solution’s HITL module

• Injects control and data traffic (which includes actual C2/SA messages) from constructive into live network and vice versa

• Provides instrumentation of traffic between live and constructive networks

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Use Case: Realistic Network Loading for GMR SIT Part 2

• Realistic stimulation of the live GMR radio network at Layer 3 Red side

• Live C2/SA applications connected to the constructive network

• Control traffic and Data traffic injection into the live NUT based on realistic communication effects in the constructive network

BCNIS successfully deployed in GMR SIT Part2 at Ft Huachuca

Live WNW Network

GMR-WNW-HITL

GMR Red Router

JNE

Black RFBlack RF

RPWS

OneSAFC2 Adapter

Software Operating System

Hardware Details

JNE RHEL 5.3 64-bit

•Dell R610 •8GB RAM •Xeon 2.66Ghz quad core (x5550 model number) •8MB L2 cache •146GB 15k rpm serial attached SCSI

Generates actual SA messages for multiple constructive radios

Provides position updates to constructivenetwork

Inject unicast and multicast control and data traffic into live GMR network at Red side

Generates actual C2/ SA message for a single constructive radio

RPWS box maps to constructive radio via Exata interface

Virtual Representation of GMR Red Router

BCNIS Hardware setup for GMR SIT Part 2

BCNIS Accomplishments in SIT Part 2

• Objectives were to verify LVC operation with live radios, realistic network loading of the live NUT and demonstrate robustness of BCNIS

• Observations from SIT Part 2:• Full OSPF convergence for all live and constructive radios

• Multicast traffic from live radios received by constructive radios

• Traffic originating from constructive radios reached live, seen in data reduction reports

• Unicast UDP TGEN originating from virtual node

• Multicast TGEN originating from virtual node

• JVMF K5.01 SA traffic originating from C2 Adapter and passing through constructive network to live with accurate communication effects

• SA periodic updates when virtual units are stationary and dynamic updates when units moved in OneSAF

• Several runs with BCNIS injecting realistic traffic continuously for 3 hours during SIT Part 2

Successful Risk Reduction Event for BCNISSuccessful Risk Reduction Event for BCNIS

BCNIS Solution for Scalability for OTBCNIS Solution for Scalability for OT

Exchange WNW Control Messages to extend scale of live WNW network

Augment size of force in constructive environment using BCNIS to make up for lack of live radios and provide realistic communication effects and network loading at Larger Scale

Future Work and Planned Deployments

• BCNIS is expected to play in the following test events in the near future– Realistic Network Loading in GMR LUT– Large Scale LVC representation and Realistic Network

Loading in GMR MOT&E

• Capabilities planned for future versions of BCNIS– Support for LVC with Current Force Radio Networks like

SINCGARS and EPLRS– Real-time Data Collection and Instrumentation of the

constructive network– Root cause analysis to understand constructive network

behavior– Real-time Visualization of the constructive network status– Integration with tactical applications of interest to the T&E

community and programs such as JCR, BFT-II

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