Tactical Switching for Infantry Soldiers

"The objective of the C4NET device developed by the Acceleradio Company is to prevent friendly fire situations and provide the commander at the front line with a real-time tactical conduct-of-operations capability," says Tal Mashraki, founder & CEO
Tactical Switching for Infantry Soldiers
The Acceleradio Company of Israel has developed C4NET – a device enabling the implementation of tactical command & control (C2) over VHF radio networks originally intended to enable voice communication on the battlefield. The idea behind this product is to establish an ad-hoc, decentralized data communication network for troopers and platforms operating on the battlefield. Once the C4NET is connected to the VHF network, a tactical communication "cloud" begins to form which then moves along with the force.

In addition to supplying communication to the members of the network, the C4NET is also synchronized with the IDF 'Massu'ah' communication system, which provides commanders on the ground with precise locations of friendly forces over a map display. This prevents friendly fire situations – a significant cause of casualties in combat situations – and makes it possible to manage the battle visually at the tactical level.

"With civilian C2 systems like Waze, you have a cellular network with a server behind it. If you do not have a continuous bilateral communication link with the network, you will be disconnected," explains Mashraki. "In the military world, we are talking about commanders engaged in combat on the ground without a central network and without a continuous link with the network. The implication is that they cannot see a current picture of the forces.

"Three years ago, IDF decided to initiate an infantry spotting project where they had our systems tested by the 101st Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade. You should realize that for the past ten years, IDF have been trying to develop a tactical communication system. There are systems suitable for mounting on a Jeep, but not on the back of an individual trooper. In 2009 we established our company, 3 years after the Second Lebanon War, in which I had served as a brigade communication officer in reserve. I was a member of the C4I lessons committee and realized that IDF did not have tactical switching on the ground.

"A smart tactical network core offers a known performance envelope which includes power output, weight, price and size. Eventually, it is mounted on the back of an infantry trooper. There are two ways to obtain a smart network. You can build it from scratch using smart devices, just as they want to do with the new device by Elbit Systems (MABAN = E-LynX) or as the Americans tried to do by integrating JTRS devices by Thales and General Dynamics. The other alternative is to insert a smart core into key points in the network, parallel to the radio, which is what we do.

"The C4NET is a PCB with three ports in a small, ruggedized enclosure that is suitable for infantry troopers. The first port controls the radio, the second one is allocated to the PTT/handset device and the third port is intended to be connected to a computer unit, router, sensor or touch screen (for example, the 'Massu'ah' system, a BFT switchboard as used by the US Army or an Android tablet computer). All in all, we are talking about tens of thousands of radio transceivers in IDF that are the 'target audience' for our C4NET device."

Real-Time Tactical Switching

Ad-hoc networks or MANETs (Mobile Ad-hoc Networks) in the professional jargon are based on packet switching and an independent network learning capability. When infantry troopers enter enemy territory with their C4NET devices and no cellular or other network had been deployed in that territory, they will require a technology that would enable them to communicate with one another and to transmit C2 data. This is precisely the objective of a tactical communication network.

The solution offered by the Acceleradio Company consists of the C4NET hardware and an algorithm that establishes an ad-hoc network over VHF radio. "All of the devices have the same hardware but they do not recognize one another on the ground," explains Mashraki. "What you need is a mechanism of synchronization and self-learning of the network, capable of allocating time slots so as to prevent collisions. In that time slot, each station sends its own parameters and searches for friends nearby. In each such 'introduction' cycle, the C4NET devices share information regarding the members of the network each one is familiar with, thereby establishing an ad-hoc network.

"As the cycles multiply, the data regarding the locations of the individual stations permeates to everyone. Eventually, each station will have a routing table of all of the stations in the network. The communication arch that links the individual C4NET devices together develops as a function of time and geographic distance. One should bear in mind that a lower frequency propagates more effectively and provides a longer range on account of the bandwidth. A higher frequency provides more bandwidth to a shorter distance. These are physical limitations. On the ground, what you are interested in is the product of multiplying the range by the actual data rate. The data rate is a function that decreases in direct proportion to the frequency. If you transmit with a Giga data rate to shouting range – you'll be better off actually shouting.

"Our communication protocol is event driven, to save energy. When a C4NET device changes location, it will transmit. The protocol can also aggregate changes from several neighbors in the network and transmit them as a single packet, also – to save energy. We developed a mathematical engine capable of effectively sharing the location data of multiple stations – not just a single station. Its effectiveness factor, according to our data, is 8-10 more effective than the data of the Tzayad (Digital Land Army) system and 15 times more effective than the Net Warrior data network the US Army runs over JTRS transceivers. The C4NET device also features an information security solution that complies with the stringent standards of IDF. We paid in power output and in hardware costs to comply with that requirement."

Trials with the US Army

Live fire trials with the C4NET device have been conducted by a battalion of the Golani Infantry Brigade on the Golan Heights. The objective was to determine whether the C4NET can help the company commander to conduct combat operations: "In a live fire scenario such as in wartime, there is always the risk of friendly fire situations," explains Mashraki. "In that trial, they provided all of the teams with C4NET devices and the company commander, who was located about one and a half kilometers away, had a 'Massu'ah' display on which he could see everyone and conduct the operation where a village had to be captured. At the same time, he could communicate with all of the troopers using the VHF radio network. The exercise was highly successful.

"Changes in terrain features also interfere with network stability. The stability criterion for the arches in the network is frequency dependent. If there is no reception owing to range or something that interferes with reception like a building, the arch between the stations will be disconnected. Generally, it may be stated that minor changes in high frequencies result in major changes in the network topology. On the other hand, major changes in low frequencies result in minor changes in the network topology. One hop in VHF closes what several hops do at the Gigahertz frequencies.

"When a battalion commander, just like in that trial on the Golan Heights, wants to deploy forces in a 2 km scenario, nothing can close that range except a VHF network. Admittedly, IDF tanks have such systems as 'Kvish Mahir' (MaXess by Elbit Systems), but a tank cannot be compared to an infantry trooper. A tank has an antenna that is half the length of the wavelength and starts at a height of 3 meters above the ground. It has 12 batteries on the hull floor and a 50-watt transmitter. A tank is like a small radio station. An individual infantry trooper has a backpack radio transceiver with a battery that should last for twenty hours, a wire antenna that is one-eighth the length of the wavelength (on a good day) which starts at a height of one meter above the ground and ends right there.

"Another concept of the ad-hoc network tested in the trial is known as network connectivity. The network does not have to be 'full mesh' all the time. If someone is disconnected – he will remain disconnected, no one will see him, and the network will know his last location. Each such network has a number of separating nodes with each node serving as a base station for several stations, like a cluster. The implication is that this is a node and if you move it, the communication cloud may separate into 2 clouds or more. The C4NET can issue an alert in the event of a critical point upon which the network is currently based and the commander can order that trooper, over the radio, to stay put or get another C4NET device to link up with him as network backup, as if he moves – a large part of the network will be disconnected.

"The system also features 'broadcast' voice messages. You can pre-record a message for each channel, and then the trooper will not have to determine the channel he is using visually. When he switches channels, he will hear a voice message announcing the identity of the channel he has switched to, like 'Brigade Operations' or 'C Company'. He will hear it, so he would not have to determine it visually. There are also messages like 'Low Battery', 'EW Alert' and so forth.

"We provide the second and third layer of the OSI model on a low frequency. This is our technological infrastructure. IDF want to commission the MABAN (Elbit Systems' E-LynX) device in 2018-2019 and it has a low frequency function. In the USA they have either low frequency or high-frequency devices. I cannot say what IDF will use and when. To this day we delivered 40 systems. 770 additional systems are to be delivered to IDF before the end of this year."

The Acceleradio Company also cooperates with the US Army and has already conducted a trial with their system in the USA. The US Army has a tactical data network designated Net Warrior that provides data network services. They have a device mounted on a vehicle that travels with the forces, and it functions like a cellular site that collects location data.

"We conducted a trial with the US Army in the context of which we provided a company made up of four teams with our C4NET devices," says Mashraki. "They wanted the C4NET to extend the coverage range of their network. We managed to extend it by four times over a VHF network. I can provide tactical C2 over the radio you are using. You want video over VHF? We don't have it. You'll have to purchase dedicated products for it, not on account of the tactical C2. In 2017 we will be able to transmit images over VHF. The Americans regard our product as a range-extending device. They have 1.3 million VHF transceivers in use by their security forces, of which 800,000 sets are used by the US Army. This has a huge potential.

"We concluded the exercises with the USA in 2015. At this point they have invested an initial budget in a secure adaptation of their C2 protocols. In a schematic drawing of their standard battalion communication network you will find 12 of our devices. We still have a long way to go, including a tender, but it is progressing. Because it is foreign technology, it is even more challenging."

'Red Alert' over a VHF Network

Another project for which the Acceleradio Company wants to provide a solution is the IDF's demand to issue an alert of incoming mortar fire to tactical elements within range. The goal is to issue a two-second warning to all troopers within range.

"Using our network you can run broadcast messages. We can issue an alert to the entire reception range, regardless of the frequency being used," explains Mashraki. "The MoDem of the C4NET device is sufficiently powerful, and using dedicated radio communication anyone located in the same geographic area will receive it, even though you transmit using one modulation and the client may be operating a receiver using a different modulation. The C4NET will reconstruct the signal and decipher the message.

"It is a smart engine that can handle multiple consecutive messages. If only one mortar fires, it will transmit an alert, but if several mortars fire successively, a bottleneck will form. Each message takes time to transmit. If a bottleneck of messages is formed, you will not be able to issue the alert in time. Our system can aggregate. It can transmit all of the messages as a cluster, and the receiving element will only retrieve the messages that are relevant to him. IDF are yet to purchase this solution."

The Fire Loop on Android

As stated previously, one of the ports of the C4NET can be connected to an external device, among others – to an Android-based device. "You can connect an Android device to the C4NET as a touch screen. It will enable the trooper to see a map, send messages or draw the enemy or any other element on the ground by tapping the screen. In this way, a fire loop may be closed faster than using any other method," says Mashraki.

"Today, when the artillery support officer wants to send target data to an artillery battery, you need complex systems with multiple layers to convey the data. In the USA, the artillery support and infantry systems are not synchronized and you need a satellite communication relay or some other relay for that purpose. With our product, everyone operates on the same VHF network. VHF switching gives you long-range communication and using the 'Massu'ah' system the target data can reach the battery. In theory, any trooper who has a C4NET and an Android device, upon spotting an enemy target, can mark it on his map, and the target data will be transferred almost immediately to the battery. Naturally, this depends on the combat doctrine, In IDF, not everyone is authorized to call in fire support, but the technology is available.

"We initiated marketing vis-à-vis IDF for incorporating an Android terminal behind the C4NET. Another advantage of this solution is the fact that you can mark enemy locations on the screen, or other graphic data, and they, too, will be shared through the network using the same mechanism used for sharing the locations of our own tactical elements.

"So in fact, when I transmit the locations of my forces, I also transmit the locations of the enemy elements. This is a positive by-product. The observer is the one conceiving the information. He is the one observing the enemy. His C4NET device can see that an event has been generated. It is as if he announces over the radio that Ahmed is located inside house No.17. Our protocol also makes it possible to specify a set of symbols that would represent elements on the ground, for real-time mapping purposes. If an enemy tank is positioned down the road, it may be marked and the map will change accordingly, as a standard graphic language at the tactical echelon, based on the C4NET with the ability to disseminate data to the maneuvering echelon and to the strategic echelon."