NATO Consultation Command and

Control Agency (NC3A)

ESA Ground Segment Technology Workshop

Noordwijk, 5-6 June

Standards for Military Satcom

Ground Segment

Ramon Segura
ramon.segura@nc3a.nato.int

NATO UNCLASSIFIED
 Outline of the Briefing

ƒ NATO’s Ground Segment Context

ƒ Leveraging Commercial Satcom Standards

ƒ Mapping standards to NATO satcom network tiers

ƒ Standardisation areas of interest to NATO

ƒ Summary and Conclusions

NATO UNCLASSIFIED 2
 NATO Satcom Ground Segment

ƒ Evolving very rapidly, under the IP convergence

push…
ƒ Everything over IP, and IP over every-Satcom-thing
ƒ Interworking and Integration of satcom in new NATO
Information Infrastructure (NII)
ƒ Information Assurance and Interoperability shall prevail

ƒ Targeting the very demanding objectives of the NATO

Network Enabling Capability (NNEC)
ƒ capacity pooling; integrate whatever nations can offer
ƒ federation of satcom networks, NATO and national nets
ƒ end-to-end Service Level Management, across
networks, satellite and terrestrial (wired and wireless)

ƒ Needs a sound architecture baseline, supported by

standards, best-practice
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 3
 Today’s NATO STANAGs for SATCOM
ƒ some are derived from commercial standards
ƒ e.g. DVB-S2/RCS is behind STANAG 4622 for Satellite
Broadcast Services (SBS)

ƒ others grown within military satcom community

ƒ anti-jamming waveforms (frequency-hopping, FH)
ƒ waveforms for disadvatanged terminals, with DAMA

ƒ … yet, the boundary between the two is thinning:

ƒ commonalities between protection against jamming
and protection against frequency-selective fading,
shadowing/blocking, common in satcom-on-the-move
ƒ dynamic bandwidth allocation and rate/code adaptation
on FH carriers, through TDMA, BoD, C2P, DRA/ACS,
AC NATO UNCLASSIFIED 4
 NATO is closely watching the works of …

ƒ SatLabs (DVB-RCS interworking and interoperability)

ƒ ETSI TC-SES Working Group, Broadband Satellite

Multimedia (WG BSM)

ƒ ETSI Specialist Task Forces 214, 237, 283 and 344

ƒ ITU-T SG13/13 (Satellite QoS and architectures)

ƒ ITU-R WP4B (Satellite Performance)

ƒ IETF ipdvb working group (IP over DVB standards)

ƒ TIA working group 34.1 (Satellite standards, DoD SNMS)

NATO UNCLASSIFIED 5
 NATO Ground Segment Architecture

ƒ NATO’s Satcom Ground Segment Reference

Architecture (SGRA), divides the ground segment into
five tiers (Tier-1 to Tier-5), and two bridging tiers
(Tier-0, Tier-6)

ƒ Each tier benefits from its own set of waveforms,

standards, STANAGs, subject to:
ƒ network topology of the tier (star, meshed, hybrid)
ƒ terminal capabilities (size, power, mobility, freq. band(s))
ƒ traffic patterns (i.e. requiring fixed always-on, shared on
demand, or ad-hoc burstable capacity)
ƒ availability (resilience to jamming, interference, blockage)
ƒ interoperability with nations (more critical in some tiers)
ƒ service criticality (from operational point of view)
ƒ transmission security (TRANSEC), and IA in general
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 6
 NATO Satcom Architecture Tiers (I)

ƒ Tier-1
ƒ backhaul links, deployed-to-static, fixed-rate FDMA/SCPC
trunks, star topology, large terminals (static NATO and
National anchor stations, similar to commercial teleports)
ƒ Tier-2
ƒ in-theatre backbones, largely trunk-based, FDMA/SCPC or
MCPC, star and partial-mesh topology, medium/large
deployable terminals (in-theatre hubs)
ƒ Tier-3
ƒ reachback links, bandwidth on demand, with static and
in-theatre hubs, TDM/MF-TDMA, and limited mesh
overlays (e.g. single-hop on demand);
ƒ any terminal size, usually fly-aways (alone, or clustered)
ƒ Inmarsat-type terminals, e.g. BGAN, GMPRS, etc.
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 7
 NATO Satcom Architecture Tiers (II)

ƒ Tier-4
ƒ in-theatre, highly-mobile networks, featuring highly-
mobile, disadvatanged terminals:
ƒ man-portable satcom radios (UHF and X-band)
ƒ hubless and hub-assisted MF-TDMA mesh nets (bent-
piped; a virtual Ethernet SWitch-in-the-Sky, SWitS)
ƒ satcom-on-the-move (SOTM; UHF, L, X, Ku, Ka …)
ƒ future S-band broadcast rx-only terminals would be in
this Tier, with DVB-x repeaters in Tier-6

ƒ Tier-5
ƒ static, asymmetric augmentation overlays, to off-load
terrestrial links, provide one-way high-capacity for content
dissemination services
ƒ use standard VSAT terminals, with BoD waveforms
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 8
 Multi-tiered Network-Centric View

Tier-1 (static anchor)

Tier-2 (deployed anchor)

Tier-2 (in-theatre backbone)

Tier-3 (BoD reachback)

Tier-4 (hubless mesh)

Tier-6 (wireless relays)

satcom terminals become IP nodes in a federation of

= NATO assets
NATO and National satcom networks
= National assets NATO UNCLASSIFIED 9
 Mapping Standards to Satcom Tiers (I)

ƒ Tier-1
ƒ SCPC/FDMA, MIL-STD-188-165B (STANAG 4486 ed.3);
highest BW efficiency, 16-ary modulations, Turbo Codes
ƒ Fully IP enabled, suitable for Ethernet bridging, VLAN to
MODCOD mapping with 802.1Q/P support, modem-VRFs
ƒ Anti-jamming (A/J) waveforms (STANAG 4606)

ƒ Tier-2
ƒ Same waveforms as in Tier-1, including A/J, but in-theatre,
often under spot beams
ƒ SCPC/FDMA (star, mesh) and MCPC/FDMA (mesh)

ƒ Tier-3
ƒ DVB-S2/RCS with mesh extensions (STANAG 4622, and
U.S. Joint IP Modem, JIPM / SNMS)
ƒ GMPRS/MSS for high mobility, L-band
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 10
 Mapping Standards to Satcom Tiers (II)

ƒ Tier-4
ƒ Narrowband DAMA/SCPC (STANAG 4485), X-band man-
portable terminals
ƒ Narrowband DAMA/TDMA (STANAG 4231), UHF man-
portable terminals
ƒ MF-TDMA for fully meshed connectivity (MIL-STD-188-EEE)
ƒ any modem can act as network controller
ƒ stackable, daisy-chained MF-TDMA modems for
increasing capacity, in large, or clustered small terminals
ƒ FH or DS spreading for TRANSEC, A/J, low ASI, LPD/LPI
ƒ Tier-5
ƒ same as Tier-3, star topology only; DVB-S2 for broadcast
ƒ Tier-6
ƒ 802.1Q/P satcom-to-wireless, end-to-end QoS to the last mile
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 11
 Standardisation areas of interest to NATO

ƒ At network layer
ƒ Bandwidth-request signalling and packet queuing based
on IPv4 DSCP, IPv6 flow-label, 802.1q VLAN ID,
RSVP/NSIS
ƒ satcom modem as a full-DiffServ capable node
ƒ VRF support, to enable Virtualisation of modems; one
modem <> multiple IP trunks (802.1Q tags mapped to
DVB-S2 BBF ISI, modcods)
ƒ Introducing MPLS, and MPLS interworking over
satellite, Tier-0 extensions… a phased approach:
ƒ router as LER/PE: modem not involved with MPLS
ƒ modem as LER/PE: mapping MPLS labels to MAC queues,
capacity requests
ƒ modem as LSR/P, transparently carrying MPLS over the
satcom channel, to the remote/deployed router (LER/PE)
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 12
 Standardisation areas of interest to NATO

ƒ At link-layer
ƒ Efficient IP and Ethernet encapsulation: enables Ethernet
bridging, PPPoE transport, multi-link PPPoE for bundling
capacity from multiple modems
ƒ Richer MAC/CoS queuing, full DiffServ compliant PHBs at
MAC level
ƒ Segmentation and Reassembly, prevents traffic analysis
ƒ Common interface definition for external or embedded
AES encryption modules for TRANSEC
ƒ Authentication (terminal admission control) and Key
management mechanisms (PKI-based, X.509)
ƒ PPPoE support; enables credit-based flow control for BW
grooming, and more versatile QoS in router (RFC 4938)
ƒ UL-FEC for blockage mitigation (as in DVB-H, MPE-FEC)
ƒ Optional Link-layer assured delivery (ARQ, for SOTM)
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 13
 Standardisation areas of interest to NATO

ƒ At physical layer
ƒ per-burst adaptive uplink power control, coding and modulation, and
(per-carrier) adaptive symbol rate (ACM on FL, DRA/ACS/AC on RL)
ƒ MF-TDMA hubless waveforms (following U.S. NCW, MIL-STD-188-EEE)
ƒ ability to accommodate very heterogeneous population of terminals,
of different sizes, capabilities, within the same net
ƒ FDMA/SCPC spreading for SOTM forward link (DVB-S2/RCS+M)
ƒ Adaptive MF-TDMA spreading for SOTM return link (or SCPC/DSSS,
SCPC/CDMA), switchable / selectable (per terminal, return carrier, burst)
ƒ standardised Turbo FEC implementations
ƒ persistent slot assignments (for SOTM users, fast blockage recovery)
ƒ randomised burst placement and fast F/H (for A/J)
ƒ … interest in S-band broadcast for small/handheld terminals, w. DVB-
SH (situation awareness, dissemination of Common Operating Picture)
ƒ multi-waveform terminals (highly compact, software-programmable)
ƒ advanced antenna designs for SOTM (low ASI, low-elevation G/T, etc)
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 14
 The Satcom-on-the-Move Challenges
ƒblockage ƒOff-axis Adjacent
ƒshadowing Satellite
Interference (ASI)

ƒterminal size
ƒvisibility profile

ƒPlatform motion:
ƒDoppler rate (Hz/s)
NATO UNCLASSIFIED ƒTiming offsets 15
 Standardisation areas of interest to NATO

ƒ At Service level

ƒ Pre-emption of services (at modem and NCC/Hub levels)

ƒ Automated line-up, authentication and provisioning of
terminals
ƒ Virtualisation mechanisms for large satcom assets (e.g.
hubs): Virtual Service Providers/Virtual Network Operators
ƒ Performance management
ƒ Roaming, Mobility, networking of Hub stations
ƒ Standard interfaces between NMS and OSS for service
level management across terrestrial/satcom boundaries
ƒ SOA enablers
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 16
 Summary and Conclusions
ƒ Current standards are considered sound enough to support
capacity augmentation links (e.g. in Tier-2, Tier-3)

ƒ yet, critical links (e.g. trunks in Tier-1, Tier-2) will largely rely on
anti-jamming waveforms
ƒ as prime, or backing-up highly bandwidth-efficient, commercial
waveforms

ƒ work needed on standards for interworking with terrestrial

networks, wired and wireless; satcom transit segment is just
part of a complex end-to-end service delivery chain

ƒ Tier-3 to Tier-6 is where most opportunities exist for

emerging/evolving commercial standards
ƒ satcom on the move
ƒ BoD waveforms
ƒ Hubless mesh networks
NATO UNCLASSIFIED 17
ƒ terrestrial DVB extensions (DVB-T, DVB-H, DVB-S/H)
ƒ The pressure is on … MilSatcom remains an
appealing and dynamic market, with a clear
preference for standards over proprietary solutions

Thanks for listening

Questions ?

NATO UNCLASSIFIED 18