RFC 1677 (rfc1677) - Page 2 of 9

Tactical Radio Frequency Communication Requirements for IPng

RFC 1677             IPng Tactical RF Requirements           August 1994


Background

   This paper describes requirements for Internet Protocol next
   generation (IPng) candidates with respect to their application to
   military tactical radio frequency (RF) communication networks.  The
   foundation for these requirements are experiences in the NATO
   Communication System Network Interoperability (CSNI) project, the
   Naval Research Laboratory Data/Voice Integration Advanced Technology
   Demonstration (D/V ATD), and the Navy Communication Support System
   (CSS) architecture development.

   The goal of the CSNI project is to apply internetworking technology
   to facilitate multi-national interoperability for typical military
   communication applications (e.g., electronic messaging, tactical data
   exchange, and digital voice) on typical tactical RF communication
   links and networks.  The International Standard Organization (ISO)
   Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) protocol suite, including the
   Connectionless Network Protocol (CLNP), was selected for this project
   for policy reasons.  This paper will address design issues
   encountered in meeting the project goals with this particular
   protocol stack.

   The D/V ATD is focused on demonstrating  a survivable, self-
   configuring, self-recovering RF subnetwork technology capable of
   simultaneously supporting data delivery, including message transfer,
   imagery, and tactical data, and real-time digital voice applications.
   Support for real-time interactive communication applications was
   extended to include a "white board" and other similar applications.
   IP datagram delivery is also planned as part of this demonstration
   system.

   The CSS architecture will provide U.S. Navy tactical platforms with a
   broad array of user-transparent voice and data information exchange
   services.  This will include support for sharing and management of
   limited platform communication resources among multiple warfighting
   communities.  Emphasis is placed on attaining interoperability with
   other military services and foreign allies.  Utilization of
   commercial off-the-shelf communications products to take advantage of
   existing economies of scale is important to make any resulting system
   design affordable.  It is anticipated that open, voluntary standards,
   and flexible communication protocols, such as IP, will play a key
   role in meeting the goals of this architecture.

Introduction

   Before addressing any IPng requirements as applied to tactical RF
   communications, it is necessary to define what this paper means by
   "IPng requirements".  To maintain brevity, this paper will focus on



Adamson