AC Summer 08 WIN-T Online - United States Army Signal Center of ...

HNW By Darren LeBlanc
Since the inception of radio communications,
signaleers have relied solely on a fixed infrastructure for
any high throughput communications. For operation
centers and key leaders in the division, brigade, and
battalion, the Warfighter Information Network – Tactical
Increment 2 line-of-sight solution brings a significant
paradigm shift. No longer does a commander have to
manage the risk of degraded communications as his unit
moves forward. Terrestrial LOS communications is no
longer restricted to a series of point-to-point fixed links.
With the fielding of WIN-T Increment 2, these leaders
will obtain high throughput links, as part of a mobile
backbone communications infrastructure. For the first
time, the Soldier will have true on-the-move connectivity.
The crown jewel of this LOS system is the
Highband Networking Waveform. HNW is a new
breed of radio waveforms that allows for automatic
neighbor discovery and automatic frequency reuse.
With the help of a “smart” multi-beam antenna technology,
the HNW radio can automatically detect any other
HNW radios within range and allow a user to pass
video, voice, or any type of Internet Protocol traffic to
and from the newly found neighbor. Any one radio can
automatically, and simultaneously, connect to another
radio within the brigade, given a clear path. This
functionality lets an HNW network self-form and selfheal
when it becomes disjointed or loses a member.
Additionally, HNW is capable of automatic
frequency reuse. HNW intelligently determines which
links will not cause interference even while OTM. It
also allows for reuse of the frequency. Given the Time
Division Multiple Access architecture of the waveform,
this frequency reuse allows an entire brigade to have
high-capacity links on just one 22 Mhz channel.
In October of 2007, WIN-T demonstrated a fully
networked, high capacity, on the move LOS communications
system at Navy Lakehurst and its neighboring
Fort Dix, N.J. A full brigade-sized complement of
terrestrial radios were deployed throughout the two
New Jersey installations. For the first time, a high
throughput, self-forming, self-healing OTM network has
been realized for the warfighter.
For more information on WIN-T Increment 2 Radio
Systems, e-mail Timothy Rider, of the CECOM Life
Cycle Management Command Public Affairs Office, at
Timothy.Rider@us.army.mil.
Mr. LeBlanc is an electrical engineer for PM WIN-T,
Fort Monmouth, N.J. He is currently the Acting Chief for the
– WIN-T Increment 2
LOS solution
WIN-T Space and Terrestrial Communications Directorate
Support Branch.
ACRONYM QUICKSCAN
HNW – Highband Networking Waveform
LCMC – Life Cycle Management Command
LOS – Line-of-Sight
OTM – On-the-Move
S&TCD – Space and Terrestrial Communications
Directorate
WIN-T – Warfighter Information Network-Tactical
Army Communicator 29