EMBEDMENT OF SAFENET LAN INTO THE NAVAL TACTICAL STANDARD DESKTOP COMPUTER

SINCE THE ORIGINAL NAVAL TACTICAL STANDARD DESKTOP COMPUTER (NTSDTC) CONTRACT AWARD IN 1983, THE OPERATIONAL USE OF THE NTSDTC HAS GROWN FROM A STAND-ALONE TACTICAL DECISION AID COMPUTER INTO THE MULTICOMPUTER JOINT OPERATIONAL TACTICAL SYSTEM (JOTS). THE CURRENT JOTS/NTSDTC COMPUTER IS THE HP-9020 SERIES. IN SPITE OF THE IMPRESSIVE PROCESSING POWER OF THIS DESKTOP COMPUTER, FLEET COMMANDERS HAVE CITED REQUIREMENTS FOR EVEN GREATER PROCESSING SPEED. THE NAVY IS CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF PROCURING AN UPGRADED REPLACEMENT FOR THE HP-9020, AND AN EMBEDMENT OF LAN CONTROLLERS INTO THE NTSDTC IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS SBIR RESEARCH TOPIC. DURING PHASE-I, SYNETICS PROPOSES TO DEVELOP THE HP-9020 EMBEDDED LAN BOARDS FOR BOTH SAFENET-I AND SAFENET-II STANDARDS, DEFINED BY THE U.S. NAVY'S LAN STANDARDIZATION COMMITTEE. EACH OF THESE GATEWAYS WILL INTERFACE WITH A DUAL-REDUNDANT LAN USING A SINGLE CARD, AND AN OPTIONAL SECOND IDENTICAL GATEWAY CARD CAN BE USED TO INTERFACE THE NTSDTC WITH A QUAD-REDUNDANT LAN (TWO SETS OF COUNTER-ROTATING RINGS). THE TRANSITION FROM THE HP-9020 TO ANY NEW COMPUTER WHICH MIGHT BE SELECTED FOR THE NEXT GENERATION NTSDTC WILL BE GREATLY FACILITATED BY THE SYNETICS' MODULAR DESIGN APPROACH.