Tactical Wireless Communications and Networks: Design Concepts and Challenges

10.1 Tactical User Expectations

Recent technical leaps in commercial wireless products, such as the features of modern smartphones have prompted researchers in the tactical wireless networking community to pursue the exploitation of 3G/4G/LTE technologies as an integral piece of the tactical theater's communications capabilities. While cellular technology is more susceptible to intentional jamming and interference from local commercial waveforms, there are also huge benefits derived by leveraging and optimizing commercial waveforms for military use. The following are some objectives for developing tactical solutions, with commercial cellular technology, that would properly support all concepts of operations (ConOps) at all echelons from the division down:

1. Optimizing bandwidth: The solution must minimize the bandwidth consumption at all levels while also minimizing the number of necessary hops. Bandwidth and hop count optimization should be considered in terms of user traffic routing and reach-back to the cellular core set of services for provisioning, call signaling, and authentication.

2. Accommodating deployment needs: The solution should be deployable as either a stand-alone system or a part of an enterprise system. Cellular services can be made available at all military hierarchies, ranging from the dismounted soldier to the C2 or to headquarters platforms.

3. Meeting QoS requirements: The solution must maximize (and even take measures to enhance or guarantee) voice or ...