NETWORK PROTOCOLS FOR UHF MULTI-USER TRAFFIC

VIA-SAT IS PLEASED TO PRESENT THIS PROPOSAL FOR AN INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR UHF SATCOM MULTI-USER NETWORK PROTOCOLS THAT OPERATE UNDER NAVY UHF DAMA TDMA-1 VIRTUAL CIRCUITS. THE PROPOSED APPROACH MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT IN THAT IT IS A GENERAL PURPOSE SYSTEM THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO A VARIETY OF COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES (EG. TTY, DIGITAL VOICE, FORMATTED DATA, IMAGES), AND A VARIETY OF CONNECTIVITIES (EG. POINT-TO-POINT, BROADCAST, MULTI-CAST). THE PROTOCOL IS FLEXIBLE AND CAN BE DYNAMICALLY RECONFIGURED TO MEET CHANGING USER REQUIREMENTS, AS WELL AS CHANGES IN RELATIVE PRIORITIES AMONG DIFFERENT SERVICES. THE PROPOSAL INCLUDES AN OVERVIEW OF NAVY UHF SATCOM ARCHITECTURE, INCLUDING THE BENEFITS OF OPERATING UNDET TDMA-1. WE THEN DEVELOP A CANDIDATE ARCHITECTURE USING TDMA-1 VIRTUAL CIRCUITS. FINALLY WE INTRODUCE AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH THAT SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCES SERVICE SET-UP LATENCY WHILE OFFERING AS MUCH AS AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE THROUGHPUT EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT FOR MANY NETWORK TYPES. THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM INCLUDES DOCUMENTATION OF NETWORK REQUIREMENTS, TRAFFIC MODELING, PROTOCOL DEFINITION, SYSTEM SIMULATION, QUANTITATIVE METRICS OF NETWORK PERFORMANCE, AND THE FINAL REPORT. DELIVERABLES UNDER THE PROPOSED FIRM-FIXED PRICE PHASE I PROGRAM INCLUDE A MID-TERM BRIEFING, A FINAL REPORT, AND A DELIVERABLE NETWORK COMPUTER SIMULATION.