ADVANCED FACILITIES TO EXPEDITE DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF PACKET SWITCHED SYSTEMS

THE URGENT NEED FOR THE ARMY TO MODERNIZE ITS COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES FOR THE TACTICAL ENVIRONMENT HAS BEEN EMPHASIZED BY THE PROCUREMENT OF NONDEVELOPMENTAL ITEMS (NDI), E.G., THE MOBILE SUBSCRIBER EQUIPMENT (MSE). ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROCUREMENT OF THE MSE SYSTEM ARE ADDITIONAL ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED TO INSURE THAT THE SYSTEM WILL FULLY SUPPORT USER EXPECTATIONS. AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES IN THE INTEGRATION OF PACKET SWITCHED NETWORKS TO INCORPORATE LARGE NUMBERS OF DATA USERS IN A WAY THAT ALL USERS CAN BE PROVIDED WITH ADEQUATE SERVICE. THIS EFFORT PROVIDES AN EXPERT SYSTEM APPROACH TO BUILDING SIMULATIONS TO DESIGN, TEST, AND EVALUATE PACKET SWITCHING PROTOCOLS AS THEY WOULD BE INCORPORATED INTO MSE TYPE NETWORKS. THIS APPROACH PROVIDES FOR INTERCHANGEABILITY OF MODELS AND SUBMODELS FROM SIMULATION TO SIMULATION. PSI HAS ALREADY BUILT SIMULATIONS CONTAINING PACKET PROTOCOLS AND SEPARATE SIMULATIONS OF THE MSE SYSTEM. THUS, BASED ON THE MODELS ALREADY EXISTING, PSI CAN BUILD A FACILITY FOR RAPID ANALYSIS, TEST, AND EVALUATION OF THE INTEGRATION OF PACKET SWITCHING PROTOCOLS WITH MSE.