MUOS Communication Optimizer and Quick Planner

The Navy is searching for techniques that allocate and assign beam frequencies in a manner that maximizes satellite bandwidth and throughput for wideband tactical radios in traditional and non-traditional (i.e. consequence management, humanitarian relief, disaster recovery, extended maritime interdiction operations) settings. To gain access to MUOS satellite resources, users must submit satellite access requests (SARs) via the U.S. military’s SIPRNET to reserve resources before use. However users don’t always have access to SIPRNET, and the approval process takes considerable time. To address this challenge, this effort will develop a Quick Planner, implemented in software, that runs on a PC laptop and/or PDA that provides a “pre-qualifying” evaluation of a user-specified SAR that is within 80% of optimal in 15 minutes. The pre-qualification provides the user with informative graphical feedback for a specified SAR as to what factors impact its acceptability given the current state of the MUOS traffic load, allowing the user to make modifications to the candidate SAR to improve its likelihood of being approved. The process will save MUOS users time by allowing them to “tune” a SAR for maximum likelihood of success before actually submitting the SAR to the SIPRNET for approval.