Projects

Projects that the company is working on or has recently completed include:

• IP over Narrowband Radio Frequency Links
  The IP over Narrowband Radio Frequency (RF) Links project is developing standards for the use of IP in networks that are composed of narrowband RF links. The greatest challenge presented by these networks is the extremely limited bandwidth of the links, as little as 9,600 bits-per-second (bps) or even 4,800 bps. IP-over-Narrowband-RF networks are useful in providing sensor coverage over large, remote areas for environmental monitoring and homeland security applications.


• Interoperable Narrowband Data Radios
  This project seeks to facilitate the commercial availability of interoperable, standards-based, narrowband data radios. Narrowband very high frequency (VHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) data radios are used in fixed and mobile applications to transmit data over distances up to tens-of-miles. Unfortunately, these radios generally use proprietary on-the-air protocols, which prevent inter-vendor interoperability and impede the development of standards-based, wide-area, wireless, narrowband IP networks.


• Wide-area Environmental Sensing and alerTing networks (WESTnets)
  Wide-area, Environmental Sensing and alerTing networks (WESTnets) are specialized wireless sensor networks that are designed to meet the unique and rigorous demands of providing permanent, continuous coverage over very large, generally remote, geographic areas.  WESTnets were originally envisioned as a next-generation wireless networking solution for hydrologic warning systems (HWS).  Hydrologic warning systems collect hydrologic sensor data that are used in the creation of flood predictions and warnings; these data must be collected in near-real-time from sensors distributed over a watershed-sized area.  Although WESTnets were motivated by the needs of hydrologic warning systems, they are a general-purpose wireless networking solution that is applicable to a broad range of in situ environmental sensor applications, including large-scale hydrologic or water quality monitoring systems and mesoscale meteorological observation networks.


• Analysis of Very Narrowband Requirements for Hydrologic Frequencies
  This project examined the implications for the hydrologic warning system (HWS) community of a future requirement by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that hydrologic warning systems migrate to very narrowband operation. Very narrowband operation will require HWS operators to employ radios that use bandwidths of at most 6.25 kHz (compared to the January 1, 2013 narrowband requirement that HWS operators migrate to radios that require bandwidths of no more than 12.5 kHz).


• ALERT-2 Protocol Development
  The ALERT-2 project documented requirements and evaluated technologies for a suite of wireless networking protocols that were designed to be used in hydrologic warning systems (HWS). Hydrologic warning systems collect data from sensors, typically rain gauges and stream gauges, that are distributed over large, often remote, areas. The ALERT-2 protocols were intended to replace the original ALERT protocol, which no longer meets the needs of the HWS community.


• Semantically Aware, Mission-Oriented Networks (SAMOnets)
  Semantically Aware, Mission-Oriented networks (SAMOnets) extend the Internet architecture to enable new, sophisticated, content-aware, network-layer services to be easily designed, developed and deployed.  The SAMOnet framework is particularly beneficial in demanding, resource-constrained, network environments such as low-bandwidth, wireless, mission-oriented, edge networks.
  
  
• An Extensible QoS Framework for Secure Tactical Networks
  The Extensible QoS Framework for Secure Tactical Networks project developed a framework for providing fine-grained, content-aware, secure, scalable, quality-of-service assurances in demanding IPv4 and IPv6 network environments, such as wireless ad hoc networks, tactical networks, and space networks.