EVERY RECEIVER A SENSOR
Tis technology is being used today to provide wireless service to Puerto Rico as it continues to recover from Hurricane Maria, the Category 4 storm that struck the U.S. territory in Septem- ber 2017. Additionally, under the ERASE portfolio, CERDEC is investigating the efficacy of using a very large number of very small and inexpensive sensors—like radio frequency sensors, or seismic sensors, for example—that can be distributed in mass quantity over a region of interest to acquire specific insights into the local environment. (See Figure 2, Page 71.)
LEVERAGE ALL AVAILABLE DATA Our tactical systems already collect a large amount of information as part of their normal operation. However, this data is hidden within the device and is often not available to external systems for further processing. For example, practically all modern fielded communication systems monitor their own performance to help maintain quality of service. Te system does this by measuring quantities such as received signal power levels and bit error rates. Most of this monitoring, and any remediating action taken by the device, are invisible to the operator.
For the user, such information will most often be superflu- ous. However, if this currently invisible data were made visible and then correlated across a large number of systems, it might provide near-real-time warnings of events within the electromag- netic environment. One radio experiencing a high error rate is, in itself, not very consequential. A couple dozen radios all report- ing higher than normal error rates within close proximity of one another could, however, be an indication of adversary electronic attack activity.
SPEED COMMANDERS’ DECISIONS Data acquisition is only the first step in situational understanding. Once obtained, data must be ingested, aggregated and analyzed in various ways to derive meaning. For instance, simply collecting the total number of automobile accidents that have occurred over a period of time is not by itself very useful. However, correlating this data with other factors, such as location, weather conditions and time of day, could enable the identification of hazardous road- ways and intersection that could then be remedied.
Future operational environments will necessitate the collection of extremely large and diverse data sets that humans will not be able to process using traditional software approaches. To over- come this, CERDEC will employ novel big-data processing and machine-learning techniques to reduce the time it takes to process such vast amounts of information.
ON A ROLL
An adversary dug in to a dense urban environment, using robust communications links and taking advantage of extensive local infra- structure, would have an advantage over U.S. troops trying to decipher the sheer complexity of digital signals—unless military procedures change and allow units to exploit all possible sources of data, includ- ing sensors primarily designed for something else. (U.S. Army photo)
Furthermore, such data sets will need to be stored as part of a distributed data-management system that will allow processing to occur at points close to the tactical edge; the ideal scenario is for data to be processed at the lowest level possible, as close to where it was collected as possible, so that resources aren’t wasted sending large amounts of data back to higher headquarters. Tis will ensure that we do not overburden our tactical networks by attempting to move data across tactical communication links, and that relevant insights are made more expediently at the levels where they are most beneficial. In such an architecture, insights derived from data held at lower levels can be condensed and reported up the chain, where rhey can be further aggregated and analyzed to derive broader insights.
CONCLUSION It’s the year 2030. U.S. armed forces have been ordered to liberate and provide security for a city that is occupied by a hostile force. Upon initial entry, they use all available dedicated and opportu- nistic sensors at their disposal to validate and enrich previously known intelligence. Based on this new data, advanced analytics calculate that the adversary is operating within a small section
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Army AL&T Magazine
October-December 2018
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