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

PD TNAC2 ensures interoperability
among separate systems
By Jennifer Zbozny and Josh
Davidson
Simply put, when systems do
not interoperate, Soldiers can’t
perform their missions. They can’t
make phone calls, send e-mails or
access the systems that provide
capabilities such as situational
awareness, battlefield collaboration
or sending calls for fire. Internet and
network connectivity, much like
what is experienced each day in the
average office environment, is lost.
However, loss of connectivity on the
battlefield brings potentially deadly
consequences.
This is one reason why Product
Director, Tactical Network Architectures
and Configurations-Current,
led by Jennifer Zbozny and Jim
Sintic, performs the network integrator
role and as such partakes in
numerous efforts to ensure that
essential interoperability exists
among separate systems. Product
Managers are chartered with developing
specific systems, and PD
TNAC2 integrates those systems into
a greater functional network.
As Product Managers design
their systems, we work with them to
ensure the equipment they purchase
will interoperate with the other
products with which they need to
communicate. We develop the
technical network architectures and
interconnect diagrams that lay out
the methods for systems to use to
connect to and communicate with
one another. And, we develop the
configurations or technical glue that
connects the systems together and
enables them to talk.
Many of the systems presently
fielded in theater are developed by
numerous separate Product Managers
and contractors. While focused
on building their own systems,
developers many times do not have
the proper information from other
complementary systems that allow
Warfighters should not
have to worry about
individual systems or
charters. They want
complete system-ofsystems
capabilities
that allow them to
accomplish their
missions easily and
rapidly.
the separate systems to interoperate
on the network. PD TNAC2 examines
the compatibility of the
network’s many systems and
ensures that interoperability.
Warfighters should not have to
worry about individual systems or
charters. They want complete
system-of-systems capabilities that
allow them to accomplish their
missions easily and rapidly. A
system-of-systems is a set or arrangement
of systems that are
related or connected to provide
multiple capabilities to a singular
end user.
Warfighters also want as much
commonality as possible between
products that provide similar
capabilities. For example, routers
are part of many network systems.
It is far easier for end users when the
routers across different systems are
the same. This reduces learning
curve, training burden, and sustainment
and logistics tails, while
maximizing interoperability. PD
TNAC2 ensures commonality across
systems to the maximum possible
extent by working with product
managers during the component
selection phase. PD TNAC2 recently
was selected as the PEO C3T lead for
the Network Equipment Manage-
ment Review Board, who will be
chartered to provide an approved
list of network components to
product managers, review their
component selections, and ensure
commonality across the board to the
maximum possible extent.
Commonality from one system
to the next benefits both the taxpayer
and warfighter by reducing training
burdens and costs, sustainment
expenses and sparing, and increasing
interoperability. In the past,
Soldiers had to integrate their
systems alone with little support or
guidance, as systems were often
delivered in a piecemeal fashion
without being integrated with other
systems into a greater overall
network. PD TNAC2 now performs
that integration function by developing
the configurations and interconnect
diagrams warfighters need to
make their equipment interoperate.
While training is still necessary for
the users to understand system
integration, so they can modify
systems to support different missions,
they do not have to perform
the entire function alone.
PD TNAC2 is led and staffed
by government employees and
Systems Engineering and Technical
Assistance contractors, and provides
a critical service at a fraction of the
cost that a development contractor
group would charge.
PD TNAC2 performs extensive
testing to ensure that the network
systems interoperate and support
the applications warfighters rely on
to perform their missions. PD
TNAC2 owns and operates a current
force network lab where integrationrelated
tasks are accomplished. Our
products ensure developmental
continuity for successful execution of
current force programs.
PD TNAC2 holds bi-weekly
Current Force Network Working
Group meetings, which involve
technical staffs from the Program
Army Communicator 39