Gadgetized Data Dissemination to Improve Integration of PWSA With the Tactical Edge

While Link-16 is a key mechanism for the PWSA Transport Layer to interact with tactical platforms, it has known challenges that can critically limit mission performance. Upgrading platforms to use more capable tactical links (e.g., TTNT) can help, but is not itself a panacea. First, not all critical platforms will be easily upgraded. Second, the processing capabilities of the tactical platforms themselves may still be limited, so additional less critical data resulting from higher data rates can end up hindering the tactical platform’s ability to process the highly critical data. As space based systems proliferate and the number of concurrently executing missions grows, infrastructure upgrades will only go so far. With onboard modern compute capabilities, there is the opportunity to dynamically adapt the satellite network in real time to the data needs of the tactical platforms. Our proposed Gadetized Data Dissemination approach radically expands the data and precision that can be transmitted over links with restricted message sets (e.g., Link-16) and empowers tactical platforms to dynamically tailor the data that is downlinked to their respective mission needs, increasing overall link efficiency and reducing latency across the board. The end benefit is higher quality, tactically relevant information (that could not be transmitted under the current capability) disseminated at reduced latencies within the constraints of the existing networks and platforms. We will leverage and integrate Apogee Research invented technologies that have been proven out across lab and exercise experiments with operational systems: 1) STITCHES (System of Systems Technology Integration Tool Chain for Heterogeneous Electronic Systems), a toolchain for efficiently representing alternative message representations, defining transformations between them, and generating efficient code for runtime translation; 2) the Non-Enterprise Data Link (NEDL), an element of STITCHES that steganographically encodes desired data into fixed-message formats like TADIL-J for transport over Link-16, regardless of the prescribed message semantics, and 3) Gadgetization, the hot swapping of in-memory software patches to running processes to allow runtime deployment of new algorithms, workflows, and APIs.  The program will be structured around a series of demonstrations against (simulated) operational scenarios of mission significance to incrementally prove out the highlighted benefits, transition relevance, and commercialization potential of the approach. We will leverage previous work and ongoing communication with SDA, INDOPACOM J8, the Air Force, Lockheed Martin, and other organizations to craft operationally relevant use cases and drive design. The result of this effort will be an operationally relevant capability tested and demonstrated in a lab simulation, ready for experimentation on real hardware for validation and tuning.