A ROADMAP TO TELEMETRY NETWORKS

Abstract

Visions of future airborne data acquisition systems include the “network in the sky” concept where a test or training participant logs on to the range network, just like today's computer users on the ground log onto the local area network (LAN). Through two-way telemetry links, the test or training participant seamlessly becomes a node in the range network. Thus, easily sharing data with event controllers and other airborne, ship-, ground-, and space-based network nodes. Such a network would allow the conduct of highly integrated test/training scenarios involving virtual and real participants without requiring physical proximity. This technology has a high payoff for the warfighter, making it a desirable objective of present and future DoD-funded development of data acquisition systems. This much-anticipated, future state-of-the-art in data acquisition will require extensive changes from today's test/training instrumentation architecture. Based on technology that is currently emerging for computer networks, this paper describes an evolutionary path for data acquisition systems to follow in order to achieve the anticipated bandwidth required for future bandwidth-intensive applications like the network in the sky. New networking paradigms, like Sun's Jini™ project, point the way to impressive usability with dramatically lower costs and network administration in the near term for ground-based networks, but they require support for just-in-time delivery of software “drivers” and other applications. These need gigabit network speeds to be viable. If this and other new networking technology is to be transferred to the test/training domain, bit rates will require two orders of magnitude improvement from today's 10-megabit range. This paper explores the technological and political telemetry issues that must be addressed before there can be a network in the sky (or anywhere else).