NATO VLF MSK BCA- A brief introduction -

NATO VLF MSK BCA

BCA … what is it?

The Broadcast Control Authority (BCA) is a portion of the NATO VLFMSK System, which is a «Mission Critical System».

It is particularly vital for dissemination of Water Space Management(WSM) and Prevention of Mutual Interference (PMI) information

Operating in HQ MARCOM – Northwood – UK since Jan 2018

NATO VLF MSK BCA

SCOPE

Provide in the NATO operating areas a reliable and flexibleTelecommunication system 7/24 using VLF range (10-50Khz).

✓ Reliability : the integrated HW / SW solution must ensure the complete and correctbroadcast to the submarines;

✓ Flexibility : facilities must be provided to manage the operating status aimed atNATO VLF broadcast.

DOMINIO APPLICATIVO

Requirements

1. ACP-126 and ACP-127 Message Handling Management System:✓ Message Handling for the interconnection of NATO and national MHS.

2. ACP-176 automatic management traffic system:✓ Handling of up to 8 single keystreams.

3. NATO Cryptographic full compatibility

INDEX

1. MAIN MODULES

2. HARDWARE

3. SOFTWARE

4. BCA SYSTEM – FRONT-END

5. SCREENSHOT

SYSTEM LAYOUT

The BCA system consists of a rack unit and 5 workstations connectedthrough an optical LAN. Provided equipment and modules are listedbelow:

1. Two processors connected by an internal LAN;

2. Two I/O boards running in master/slave mode;

3. One administrative console;

4. One Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM);

5. Two switches running in IRF Stack mode;

6. UPS protection;

7. Five workstations connected to the BCA server by a double FOlink.

The processors and the I/O boards are assembled in a chassis unitlocated inside the rack itself. These modules form the BCA main uniton server side.

MAIN MODULES

BCA System layout

BCA UNIT LAYOUT

The BCA Unit is contained in a standard 19’’ rack-mount chassis.

The various parts of the unit are suitable accommodated into four different enclosures as follows:

1. Standard 19’’ 1U rack-mount chassis enclosure for Processor Unit A;

2. Standard 19’’ 1U rack-mount chassis enclosure for Processor Unit B;

3. Standard 19’’ 1U rack-mount chassis enclosure for UPBSI A;

4. Standard 19’’ 1U rack-mount chassis enclosure for UPBSI B.

These four enclosures are also accommodated inside a custom 19’’ 6U chassis, along with the redundant power supply unit (PSU).

PSU is fixed to the floor of the rack-mount chassis and its accessible parts (redundant modules) are removable from the rear side of the same chassis.

HARDWARE – BCA UNIT

3D Model of the BCA Unit Chassis: frontal view

3D Model of the BCA Unit Chassis: rear view

UPBSI – KEYSTREAM AND OTAM

UPBSI (Universal Printed Board Signal Interface) can run alternatively in BCA or BCS mode.

It is able to generate and receive up to respectively 4, extensible to 8, plain languageKeystream and Off-The-Air-Monitoring (OTAM) channels for on-line encryption/decryption bythe cryptographic equipment.

Keystream and OTAM circuits support the following encoding formats:

According to the selected code, the following data rates (baud/bps) may be set:

✓ CODE1: 50, 75, 100, 150, 300, 600,1200,2400,4800;

✓ CODE4: 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 300, 600,1200,2400,4800;

✓ CODE5: 50, 100, 200, 300, 600, 1200,2400,4800;

✓ CODE6: 50, 100, 200, 300, 600, 1200,2400,4800;

✓ CODE7: 50, 100, 200, 300, 6001200,2400,4800.

Only one keystream and one OTAM may be contemporary set to 4800 baud/bps.

HARDWARE – I/O BOARD

UPBSI 3D Model

RACK CONSOLE AND UPS

The rack console is an HP LCD8500 1U UK code AF631A.

The UPS device is an HPE R1500 G4 INTL model (J2R03A). The device has the following features:

1. An intuitive front panel display for local management;

2. Hot-swappable battery modules;

3. Optional HPE Enhanced Battery Management (EBM) modules that help to extend the service-life of batteries.

The power supply unit is mounted on the back of the 6U chassis and the modules are removable from the back side.

HARDWARE – MAIN EQUIPMENT

Rack Console

HPE R1500 G4 INTL UPS

Ethernet Switch

BCA system includes two HPE FlexFabric 5700 Switch Series for theconnection between workstations and server.

Switches are set to run in IRF Stack mode and present many benefits:

1. Quality of service (QoS): flexible classification based on sourceMAC, destination MAC, source IP, destination IP, port, protocoland VLAN; feature queue scheduling;

2. Data center-optimized: versatile server connectivity, high-performance switching, higher scalability;

3. Manageability: fully featured console;

4. Resiliency and high availability;

5. Layer 3 services;

6. Layer 3 routing.

HARDWARE – MAIN EQUIPMENT

HP FlexFabric 5700 Switch

WORKSTATIONS

The Workstation is an HP ProDesk 400 G4 Microtower PC and consists of the following parts:

Monitor is an HP 27es.

HARDWARE – MAIN EQUIPMENT

HP ProDesk Microtower Workstation

Wokstation Monitor

SOFTWARE PLATFORM

The BCA System software modules are organized in both front-end and back-end components.

Front-end services are provided by four user interfaces:

1. BCAConsoleGUI;

2. BCAGUI;

3. JOURNALGUI;

4. OTAMGUI.

Back-end services are provided by 3 background controllers:

1. BCAController;

2. BCAGUIController;

3. UPBSIController.

Following environment parameters and technologies:

1. Microsoft✓ Windows Server 2012 R2;

✓ Windows 10 Pro;

✓ C# 6.0.

2. .NET Framework✓ Windows Communication Foundation (WCF);

✓ Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF);

✓ ADO.NET Entity Framework 5.0.

3. MySQL Server 5.6.

SOFTWARE – OVERVIEW

BCAGUI monitor lines panel

ARCHITECTURAL PATTERN

The architectural pattern designed is a Client/Server one.BCAController, UPBSIController and BCAGUIControllerperform a set of services. Each service:

1. Publishes one or more set of WCF endpoints (set ofservers). Endpoints define protocol and format of theexchanged messages;

2. Perform subroutines dedicated to a specific task.

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) frameworkprovides a communication model based on TCP/IP:

1. Design pattern Publish/Subscribe: Address, Binding,Contract;

2. Callback;

3. Reliable communication channel;

4. High level of programmable abstraction.

BCA SYSTEM – BACK-END

Architectural pattern overview

SOFTWARE PLATFORMGraphical user Interfaces has been developed usingWindows Presentation Foundation (WPF) technologies, avector graphics system based on Direct3D:

1. Take advantage of the graphic accelerator of moderngraphics boards;

2. High quality in controls rendering;

3. Rendering process does not involve CPU.

WPF uses eXtensible Application Markup Language (XAML):

1. Based on XML;

2. MVVM paradigm to guarantee a complete separationbetween graphics and task executions;

3. Animations to improve the user experience.

BAC SYSTEM – FRONT-END

OTAMGUI

SOFTWARE PLATFORMMain WPF is organized in two threads:

1. UI thread:

✓ Host the dispatcher for the management of the graphicevents queue.

2. Render thread:

✓ Manage rendering and repainting functions.

This architecture guarantees higher speed and reducesresponse times of the graphical interface.

BAC SYSTEM – FRONT-END

JOURNALGUI

SCREENSHOT – BCAGUI MONITOR LINES PANEL

SCREENSHOT – BCAGUI BROADCAST TABLE REACTIVATION

SCREENSHOT – BCAGUI MESSAGE FOLDER

SCREENSHOT – BCAConsoleGUI BITE Function