Littoral Combat FNC Secure Mobile Networks Selects CenGen To Characterize Performance of Tactical Type 1 Secure 802.11b Mobile Networks

October 25, 2002 – The Office of Naval Research through the Littoral Combat (LC) Future Naval Capability (FNC) Program Office selected CenGen, Inc. to secure wireless connectivity for the Navy and Marine Corps. Specifically CenGen has begun characterizing Harris SECNET 11 PCMCIA 802.11b LAN wireless networking cards to support wireless Type 1 secure connectivity.

The Littoral Combat FNC Secure Mobile Networks effort will address the Type 1 secure wireless LAN connectivity that would be required to wirelessly link users and vehicles and enable sailors and Marines to roam without being tethered to a fiber- or copper-based infrastructure. The program will also address a broad class of approaches to meet the requirements of user mobility within a local environment, as well as provide vehicle connectivity within that local environment to provide access to gateways that are communicating to higher echelons.

CenGen’s effort is designed to help characterize the operational and technical tactical performance of 802.11b including Harris’ recently delivered components to support Type 1 security. The characterization efforts are based on and compare significant data sets collected using non Type 1 secure 802.11b as well as other commercial and tactical radios. CenGen’s efforts will ensure that secure wireless local area connectivity can be effectively utilized by the Navy afloat and the Marine Corps in forward locations.

“The inclusion of true Type 1 security, or any significant security, is a key component that has been missing from this class of network,” said Timothy L. Krout, CenGen’s vice president of engineering. “We’re very excited about the opportunity to field and demonstrate a low cost Type 1 secure wireless solution.”

While many wireless commercial solutions are either emerging or widely deployed in the commercial sector today, many do not support DoD, Navy or Marine Corps requirements for radio frequency (RF) connectivity that supports Type 1 secure communications. One commercial solution envisioned to provide Type 1 security is Harris SECNET 11, an 802.11b based PCMCIA network card, which is being tested for use by the Navy and Marine Corps.

This effort will address the technical and operational aspects of integrating and effectively using an 802.11b or comparable Type 1 secure communications path to provide wireless connectivity to a forward deployed unit in and around the local area of a jump Command Post and afloat applications.

In addition, this effort will add external frequency conversion to the secure wireless cards to provide operation in frequency space controlled by the DoD. Additionally, the inclusion of mobile ad hoc networking techniques (MANET) to augment the 802.11b secure wireless LAN functionality will be addressed.

Commercial and DoD groups have been actively involved in MANET efforts for several years to seamlessly allow all users on the network to potentially act as routers to enable hop-to-hop connectivity thus extending the range without increasing power. The use of MANET techniques, if effectively utilized and deployed, will enable any user to automatically and seamlessly become a relay for any other user in the network. Such functionality, presently not included in 802.11 or other commercial techniques, will allow the seamless range extension. MANET technology will create an environment where significantly improved connectivity of all users in the network can be achieved.