Gateway Routing Tactical Nodes to Global Information Grid
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Solution Overview
Problem
Direct connection of tactical devices to the Global Information Grid (GIG) introduces communication latency and increases maintenance efforts due to the need for manual routing rule updates and network overhead, especially in mission-critical applications like weapons data links.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for routing data through a gateway that detects tactical nodes, assigns global network addresses, and publishes these addresses to a name service, allowing seamless communication while reducing latency and automating node registration and de-registration processes using a service-oriented architecture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If tactical devices are directly connected to the GIG, then network connectivity is achieved, but communication latency increases and maintenance complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A gateway is introduced as an intermediary device between tactical devices and the GIG. The gateway performs address resolution by maintaining a local mapping between simplified local addresses used by tactical devices and full GIG addresses, thereby mediating communication and reducing latency while maintaining connectivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The network is segmented into two parts: a simplified local network for tactical devices and the full GIG infrastructure. The gateway divides the address resolution function, keeping only essential routing information locally at the gateway while maintaining full GIG connectivity, thus reducing communication latency for local devices.
2Reliability
If tactical devices are directly connected to the GIG, then network connectivity is achieved, but device complexity and maintenance effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway acts as an intermediary that absorbs the complexity of GIG address management and routing rules. Tactical devices only need to know simple local addresses, while the gateway handles the complexity of mapping these to full GIG addresses and managing routing updates, thereby reducing maintenance effort.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway automatically performs address resolution and updates its local address table without manual intervention. When new tactical devices are added or removed, the gateway self-updates its routing information, eliminating the need for manual configuration and reducing maintenance complexity.
3Ease of operation
If manual routing rules are used for tactical devices, then network control is achieved, but adaptability to new waveforms decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway's address resolution system is dynamic rather than static. It automatically adapts to new tactical devices and waveforms by learning their addresses and updating its local mapping table in real-time, providing both network control and adaptability to new configurations without manual reconfiguration.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method is described for routing data from a first node to a second node via a gateway. The second node is detected at the gateway, which determines a local identifier of the second node. A name and a global address are associated with the second node. The name and the global address are published to a name service, such that the first node can retrieve the global address based on the name. The gateway receives data from the first node that is addressed to the global address and transmits the data to the second node using the local identifier. The gateway includes software implementing a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Any number of additional services may be added to process messages passing through the gateway.