MESSAGE SWITCH-PACKET SWITCH INTERWORKING

THE NEED EXISTS FOR AN INTERFACE BETWEEN EXISTING TACTICAL RECORD TRAFFIC NETWORKS AND A PROPOSED WIDE-AREA TACTICAL PACKET SWITCHING NETWORK (TPN). THESE RECORD TRAFFIC NETWORKS INCLUDE THE AN/TYC-39 MESSAGE SWITCH (MS) AND THE MOBILE TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS CENTER (MTCC). THE TPN IS TO BE PART OF THE MOBILE SUBSCRIBER EQUIPMENT (MSE), AND IS ASSUMED TO INTERFACE AND SHARE PROTOCOLS WITH THE DEFENSE DATA NETWORK (DDN). THE TACTICAL MESSAGE SWITCH-PACKET SWITCH ADAPTER (TAMPA) WILL PROVIDE THIS INTERFACE WHILE PRESERVING EXISTING MS/MTCC FUNCTIONS, INCLUDING THE SUPPORT OF DEDICATED SUBSCRIBERS. IT WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE RELIABILITY, PATH DIVERSITY, AND RESOURCE SHARING OF THE TPN TO PROVIDE MORE EFFICIENT SERVICE TO CURRENT MS/MTCC SUBSCRIBERS, AS WELL AS MESSAGE PROCESSING FACILITIES FOR MANY NEW SUBSCRIBERS. TAMPA IS TO BE ESSENTIALLY A PROTOCOL "CONVERTER". ON THE MS/MTCC SIDE, TRANSFER OF MESSAGE SEGEMENTS WILL BE UNDER CONTROL OF THE NATIVE LINE PROTOCOL (E.G. MODE I); ON THE TPN SIDE, TRANSFER WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED VIA THE DDN'S PROTOCOL SUITE. TAMPA WILL ALSO PERFORM TRANSLATION OF ADDRESSING INFORMATION BETWEEN THE NETWORKS. THE SECURITY WILL BE PROVIDED BY LINK, PACKET, AND END-TO-END ENCRYPTION, AS WELL AS EXISTING MS/MTCC SECURITY VALIDATION.