PRIME PARTNERSHIP
user interface can cause motion sick- ness, because the images lag behind what the operator’s body is feeling in the vehi- cle. Tat meant the technology required to take input from the sensors, process it and then display it on the networked crew workstations in near-real time demanded today’s highest-performance digital signal processing capabilities.
ENTER GMS Another challenge for this MVD program was an extremely tight budget. If it couldn’t be completed within the budget, it wouldn’t happen—leaving warfighters without advanced mine-clearing capa- bilities. As described in the previously referenced article, NVESD decided that using multiple vendors for differ- ent system components made hitting the budget target impossible. In addition, it seemed likely that using the traditional subcontractor-prime contractor mecha- nism would add unnecessary cost. Te only way this project could be completed
within budget was to have one vendor supply all the necessary hardware compo- nents and also informally advise on the system integration architecture.
NVESD had several hardware choices to complete the original prototype—from a rackmount server to a rugged work- station. With funding for a commercial off-the-shelf upfront design and improved in-vehicle architecture, GMS provided a proof-of-concept version of its rugged, conduction-cooled server while help- ing the Army decide that converting the sensor data to video-over-Internet Proto- col packets on a network was a scalable approach to the system problem.
As the Army demonstrated the system for early feedback, requirements evolved, and GMS was able to add more capability and expand functionality, ultimately help- ing complete the initial proof-of-concept program on budget.
EARLY DEVELOPMENT PHASE As the program evolved from concept phase and through multiple early demon- strations,
the company and NVESD
SCREEN TIME The new MVD,
installed in an MMPV Type
II, was tested by Soldiers with the 36th Engineer Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. By partnering with GMS to imple- ment modular servers and displays, NVESD was able to field a system that integrates full-motion video from all sources at all vehi- cle crew stations into a single, unified user interface on each display. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Jason E. Carney, U.S. Army Oper- ational Test Command Public Affairs)
began working more on the remaining design challenges. Tis included transi- tioning each of the system components from laboratory-grade prototypes to full military-standard, conduction-cooled, production components capable of oper- ating at minimal cost in the extreme environments of the MMVP Type II. Performance requirements also evolved, and as GMS migrated its standard product servers from one generation to the next in response to market conditions, the MVD system was able to take advantage of those gains while still using GMS commercially available, rugged off-the-shelf hardware.
As GMS evolved its hardware, the Army continued writing its own software while preparing for the eventual integration
120 Army AL&T Magazine January-March 2019
into the vehicle, a process typically left to a prime contractor. At some point in the program’s evolution, the Army had decided that not only would the addi- tion of a traditional prime contractor add unnecessary expense to the program (and likely push it out of budget), but that it would be the Army that integrated and installed the MVD system into MMVP Type II vehicles.
From that point, the Army, following protocol, put the design out for bid in its usual process. While competitors to GMS were considered—weighing factors such as lead time, price, performance and decades of building similar rugged, high-density, high-performance conduction-cooled systems—in every case, NVESD deter- mined that the GMS system was the best choice and awarded GMS the prime contract in an open competition. Instead of working through a prime—which would have added cost—making GMS the prime contractor allowed the Army to purchase complete and assembled kits with cables and final documentation. Te Army would do the integration and instal- lation into the vehicle.
Interestingly, even as the Army started the final, open bidding process, the require- ments evolved again, requiring bidders and GMS to add performance into the system to meet the new requirements. For example, because the GMS architec- ture is modular, meaning it is built using standardized “compute engines” that can be independently implemented in differ- ent systems, GMS was able to add media converter channels and upgrade from a previous-generation Intel server proces- sor to the Intel Xeon E5 server processor. As described earlier, military systems are typically generations behind commercial technology, but this modular approach allows GMS’ mobile battlefield server in MMVP Type II to use the same processor
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