KEYWORDS: Intelligence systems, Defense and security, Data processing, Data conversion, Standards development, Data modeling, Information operations, Data storage
In operational settings, where nations collaborate within an overall mission and multiple assets are used to gather information in an area of interest, the timely distribution of relevant information to the relevant person is key. To enable current situation awareness relevant information needs to be provided in (near) real time. This information distribution is especially challenging in an environment, where organization units are spread out in the field. Those mobile units operate in environments with hardware limitations, network disconnections, bandwidth constraints, under mental pressure and in a challenging overall situation. Depending on the type of unit, the mission, the military organization and the specific task, the information needs and essentials are varying. Given the limitations described above, information gathered from other units thus needs to be tailored and prioritized to the need of the consuming unit within its specific mission. This paper deals with requirements, derived functions and technological approaches to deal with these challenges. Therefore, the paper first introduces a selection of scenarios of interest, where mobile units receive information from connected operational centers through dynamic multi-hop networks. For these scenarios we analyze the requirements for data dissemination considering the need for filtered and prioritized information for the individual task of the unit. To guarantee the interoperability of multinational deployments, these requirements must be compatible with the requirements of relevant multinational standards (STANAGs). Further derivable functions and resulting technological approaches will be topics for future work.
In multinational defense operations, either EU or NATO driven, the exchange of surveillance and reconnaissance data and information is an essential aspect to be able to act promptly. Coordinated processes and agreements are the basis, distribution architectures, services, interfaces and formats the prerequisite. In the NATO context, the Joint ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) process supports the execution of surveillance and reconnaissance tasks. The Coalition Shared Data (CSD) concept and the associated specifications, interfaces and information models defined in STANAGs (Standardization Agreements), as well as the NATO ISR Interoperability Architecture (NIIA), facilitate the exchange of information based on the described processes. The EU uses CISE (Common Information Sharing Environment) and MARSUR (Maritime Surveillance), which are based on NATO-like principles. Within this frame, the OCEAN2020 (Open Cooperation for European mAritime awareNess) project, funded by the European Union's Preparatory Action on Defense Research and implemented by the European Defense Agency, sees 42 partners from 15 EU countries working to network future maritime surveillance and interdiction missions at sea integrating drones and unmanned submarines into fleet operations. Here data and information will be integrated in a comprehensive (maritime) picture of developing situations for military commanders on different unit levels. Maritime Operation Centers (MOC) on a national and EU level can be connected with operational commands/units to exchange information. With its remote-acting units equipped with only temporary and often narrow-band network connections, the Navy places particular demands on architecture (s). This paper focuses on the challenge to define flexible architectures for maritime operations.
To meet todays challenges in ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) defense coalitions Systems of Systems (SOS) architectures are needed that are flexible, function in a networked environment and support relevant operational doctrine and processes. To enable the distributed production of intelligence in networked operations the Intelligence Cycle and Joint ISR (JISR) provide process descriptions that adhere to multinational and multisystem collaboration. An interoperable SOS architecture supporting those processes needs to make use of standards for data/information management with a special focus on dissemination. The NATO ISR Interoperability Architecture (NIIA) and supportive standards (STANAGS- standardization agreements) have been specified to provide a solution to these needs. In terms of data distribution, STANAG 4559 is the core standard of relevance here. It defines a concept, data- and information models, interfaces and services to support information dissemination according to JISR. The current specification for synchronization of JISR results however has some deficiencies in terms of implementation complexity, flexibility, robustness and performance. Thus, there is a need for a new approach to data dissemination in networks implementing STANAG 4559 that enables the usage of all aspects currently supported by this standard but seeks to solve the known issues. Thereupon this paper presents requirements for data dissemination in a JISR enterprise, derives key performance indicators (KPIs), identifies possible technical approaches and finally defines a new solution based on the concept of Hash Tries. Here a tree-based data structure is organized based on hashes of nodes, which allows a quick identification of changes in replicated data.
KEYWORDS: Information architecture, Intelligence systems, Reconnaissance, Data modeling, Standards development, Data processing, Sensors, Surveillance, Defense and security
In complex operational scenarios where multiple nations and forces cooperate, flexible System of Systems (SoS) architectures being customizable to specific operations are needed. Relevant operational processes as defined within Joint ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) and the Intelligence Cycle need to be supported. To maximize efficiency and effectiveness of Joint ISR capabilities, each Joint ISR result needs to answer the corresponding information requirement accurately. Commanders must receive the relevant information in a condensed, well-prepared manner instead of being overflowed with large amounts of (raw) data. Ensuring a common understanding of each exchanged piece of information within the defence coalition is also of utmost importance. Architectures supporting these requirements need to make use of relevant standards and agreements for data/ information management. As reports may be provided by all Joint ISR capabilities, the topic of reporting is of high importance, here. Within the described context, our publication deals with formal reporting which can be defined as organizational process at which relevant information is provided as formal reports, i.e., as documents being structured according to pre-defined (agreed) rules. We present means for ensuring allied interoperability and further (semi-)automatic processability of the information being contained in formal reports by technical means and under consideration of the relevant doctrines and standards. We also address specific means needed to ensure the creation of formal reports of high quality. Finally, we discuss current issues and new requirements on formal reporting which have to be still addressed in the field of Joint ISR.
KEYWORDS: Data integration, Intelligence systems, Surveillance, Computer security, Data modeling, Information fusion, Defense technologies, Aerospace engineering, Sensors, Data storage
Globalization has created complex economic and sociological dependencies. The nature of conflicts has changed and nations are confronted with a vast number of new threat scenarios. Information superiority is a question of being able to get the right information at the right time. Technology allows to disseminate information in near real-time and enables both aggressors and defenders to act remotely and network over time and space. Technologies in the areas of sensors and platforms as well as network technology and storage capability have evolved to a level where mass data can be easily shared and disseminated. To benefit fully from these new capabilities, there is a need for systems and services that can interact with each other in a well-defined interoperable way. On an organizational level it is necessary to define common processes to coordinate actors, their activities, the assets available and the data and information created. Security restrictions, (intellectual) property rights as well as data privacy regulations need to be fulfilled. The Coalition Shared Data (CSD) concept supports operational processes as defined by NATO within Joint ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) and the Intelligence Cycle by defining standardized interfaces, data models, services and workflows. To support information provision additionally, techniques of data and information extraction, fusion and visual analysis can be added at the system level. Other available sources can be connected through the usage of semantic world models. To ensure data integrity multilevel security measures need to be combined with the existing concept.
The publication introduces the operational processes defined within NATO doctrines and process descriptions and maps the CSD concept to it. It describes the new Edition of STANAG (NATO Standardization Agreement) 4559 Edition 4 that implements the CSD concept and connects it to operational processes. Based on this it introduces a system architecture for ISR Analytics.
KEYWORDS: Defense and security, Ecology, Standards development, Data modeling, Information security, Data acquisition, Intelligence systems, Video, Sensors, Databases
As globalization affects most aspects of modern life, challenges of quick and flexible data sharing apply to many
different domains. To protect a nation’s security for example, one has to look well beyond borders and understand
economical, ecological, cultural as well as historical influences. Most of the time information is produced and stored
digitally and one of the biggest challenges is to receive relevant readable information applicable to a specific problem out
of a large data stock at the right time.
These challenges to enable data sharing across national, organizational and systems borders are known to other domains
(e.g., ecology or medicine) as well. Solutions like specific standards have been worked on for the specific problems. The
question is: what can the different domains learn from each other and do we have solutions when we need to interlink the
information produced in these domains?
A known problem is to make civil security data available to the military domain and vice versa in collaborative
operations. But what happens if an environmental crisis leads to the need to quickly cooperate with civil or military
security in order to save lives? How can we achieve interoperability in such complex scenarios?
The paper introduces an approach to adapt standards from one domain to another and lines out problems that have to be
overcome and limitations that may apply.
KEYWORDS: Distributed computing, Defense and security, Computer security, Data storage, Standards development, Information security, Network security, Sensors, Data communications, Reconnaissance
To achieve knowledge superiority in today’s operations interoperability is the key. Budget restrictions as well as the complexity and multiplicity of threats combined with the fact that not single nations but whole areas are subject to attacks force nations to collaborate and share information as appropriate. Multiple data and information sources produce different kinds of data, real time and non-real time, in different formats that are disseminated to the respective command and control level for further distribution. The data is most of the time highly sensitive and restricted in terms of sharing. The question is how to make this data available to the right people at the right time with the right granularity. The Coalition Shared Data concept aims to provide a solution to these questions. It has been developed within several multinational projects and evolved over time. A continuous improvement process was established and resulted in the adaptation of the architecture as well as the technical solution and the processes it supports. Coming from the idea of making use of existing standards and basing the concept on sharing of data through standardized interfaces and formats and enabling metadata based query the concept merged with a more sophisticated service based approach. The paper addresses concepts for information sharing to facilitate interoperability between heterogeneous distributed systems. It introduces the methods that were used and the challenges that had to be overcome. Furthermore, the paper gives a perspective how the concept could be used in the future and what measures have to be taken to successfully bring it into operations.
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