Collaborative Open Architecture Technology for Reliable Airborne Networking (COATRAN)

Mayflower Communications Company Inc. (Mayflower) proposes a reliable airborne networking technology, the Collaborative Open Architecture Technology for Reliable Airborne Networking (COATRAN), to meet the Air Force (AF) objective, namely develop data-link, network, and/or transport layer protocols, interoperable with standard Internet protocols, which provide reliable performance over intermittent connections of Airborne Network. The proposed Phase II effort focuses on the development, implementation and demonstration of the novel Common Radio Resource Management (CRRM) technology, which was conceived in the COATRAN Phase I study. CRRM is devised to form a coherent view of the network performance, and utilize this knowledge to optimally manage the use of the multiple radios of the heterogeneous AF Airborne Network. In doing so, CRRM delivers highly reliable networked communications in the Airborne Network. The COATRAN CRRM technology, which has been proven feasible in the Phase I study for the Air Force application, has enormous potential for military and commercial applications. Mayflower will develop cost effective CRRM prototype software in Phase II, demonstrate its capabilities and performance on Mayflower multi-radio test bed. Mayflower will also work with Airborne Network radio prime contractors in Phase II to ensure the commercialization of CRRM in Phase III and beyond. BENEFIT: The reliable Airborne Networking technology, COATRAN CRRM, will provide reliable communication between mobile airborne platforms and provide interconnectivity with space and terrestrial networks. By enabling airborne platforms to reliably integrate in the Global Information Grid (GIG), CRRM would be a key enabler in Network-Centric Warfare. In the civilian arena, there is significant interest in a civilian Airborne Internet. Moreover, first responders and different agencies in homeland security use radios of different capability and with different waveforms, and there is significant interest in IP-based interoperability and reliable communication between them. CRRM technology would provide reliable IP-networking in both cases.