Employment
Communications and Information Technology — Division 6
The Communications and Information Technology Division develops and demonstrates new technology to enable worldwide networked operations for the military and other government agencies. The division's efforts draw on a core expertise in RF, fiber and free-space optics, network protocols and services, information operations, communications processing, and speech and language technologies to address the needs of next-generation satellite, airborne, and terrestrial networks. The approach spans the network domain from physical layer to applications, with significant attention given to the interplay among layers and the need to provide security. There are many diverse elements to this program, including characterization of RF and optical channels, research and prototype of protected satellites and terminals, development and evaluation of network protocols for tactical users, design and implementation of a toolbox for networked sensors, development and evaluation of information operations tools, and speech and language processing applications. The division is extensively involved in field experimentation and measurement campaigns to verify algorithms and architectural concepts in operational environments.
| Groups |
Group 61—Net-centric Integration
The Net-centric Integration Group focuses on providing a prototyping and test environment for integrating future Department of Defense communication and networking. The future network-centric operations environment will include multiple terrestrial networks, airborne assets with multifaceted communication and networking capabilities, and a space backbone. The emphasis in the Net-centric Integration Group is the development of an airborne communication node, which serves as a hub providing heterogeneous RF and optical data links, onboard gateway and routing, and network capacity brokering. To support experimentation and test, the group manages and operates a 707 test aircraft; a ground-based, portable communications and operations center; and a free-space microwave propagation measurement range. These test assets are used as proofs of concept for advanced communication and networking architectures, both in controlled experiments and operational exercises. Current activities include integrating protected military satellite communications (MILSATCOM), high-rate point-to-point tactical data links, and optical laser communication capabilities into the 707 test aircraft as additions to the numerous existing modes of communication. At the application layer, the group serves as a center for development of network-centric software tools, based on a service-oriented architecture and built around the Net-Centric Enterprise Services (NCES). Proof-of-concept objectives include utilizing the rich set of communication links with time-varying capacities in a brokered, IP-based airborne network and demonstrating robust communications through dynamic link management and brokering techniques.
Group 62—Information Systems Technology
The Information Systems Technology Group is engaged in a wide range of information processing–related projects focusing on speech and language processing and information operations. The group's speech and language processing research and development (R&D) efforts include speech recognition, speaker recognition (identification, verification, and authentication), language and dialect identification, word spotting, speech coding, speech and audio signal enhancement, and machine translation. The group's information operations R&D efforts focus on techniques for protecting from, and detecting and reacting to, intrusions into networked information systems, and for preventing software faults and understanding malicious code that exploits those faults. The group is involved in testing and evaluating the security of U.S. Government systems and networks and in identifying and demonstrating vulnerabilities in such systems. The group is also initiating new R&D in analysis of social networks based on speech, text, and network communications and activities. In each of the group's R&D areas, emphasis is placed on realistic data and experimental evaluation of techniques in test beds.
Group 63—Wideband Tactical Networking
The Wideband Tactical Networking Group develops concepts, technologies, and prototypes to provide mobile tactical military forces with wideband packet-network access. The group's current focus is on the design and integration of increasingly capable, inexpensive, modular on-the-move network nodes that support terrestrial, airborne, and satellite links. The purpose of these nodes is to give mobile warfighters the network access they need to run critical command-and-control and situational awareness applications, no matter where they are moving in a theater of operations. During testing, nodes are placed on military vehicles and driven in rugged, off-road environments both at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and at military test ranges around the country. New technologies that are being developed and integrated into the modular nodes include multiband antenna feeds, antenna positioning systems, novel waveforms, advanced networking techniques and algorithms, and programmable modems.
Group 64—Advanced Satcom Systems and Operations
The Advanced Satcom Systems and Operations Group is involved in a synergistic combination of research, proof-of-concept test beds, and system engineering/application efforts focused on the goals of enhancing the capacity, the robustness to interference, and the flexibility of future generations of communications satellites, as well as line-of-sight radio communications systems. Current research is concentrating on the design and performance of advanced waveforms (including higher-order signaling constellations and iterative demodulation/decoding); the construction of flexible, adaptive wideband frequency plans; robust acquisition and tracking techniques; dynamic resource-allocation protocols; and advanced networking strategies. Promising research results are verified in hardware/software proof-of-concept implementations that provide quantitative performance data as well as complexity information. The group's system engineering activities synthesize innovative architectures and apply new concepts and technologies to specific communications programs in the national interest.
Group 65—Advanced Networks and Applications
The Advanced Networks and Applications Group specializes in networking issues in the context of unique government requirements. One major activity focuses on mobile, ad hoc, heterogeneous networking in an airborne context. High-performance networking (gigabit class and above) over satellite systems to both fixed and mobile systems is another area of focus. In the application area, the group is exploring ways to apply next-generation, service-oriented architectures (semantic web) to sensor and decision-support systems.
Group 66—Advanced Lasercom Systems and Operations
The Advanced Lasercom Systems and Operations Group models, designs, builds, tests, and operates prototype space and airborne lasercom terminals. A major group effort is the development of low size, weight, and power airborne lasercom terminals that perform reliably over fading links. Key supporting efforts include the development of high-data-rate modems with high-efficiency modulation formats and sensitive detection schemes, and implementation of novel forward-error correction codes to enable communication performance near theoretical capacity limits. Other capabilities include operation of a high-fidelity terminal test bed and an emulation test bed to investigate tracking in a fading environment. The group maintains close interactions with both government and industry partners.
Group 67—Optical Communications Technology
The Optical Communications Technology Group develops advanced laser communications technology for many applications. Research in optical switching and optical logic supports the development of future ultrahigh-speed, all-optical routing. Research in superconducting, single-photon-counting detectors, novel modulation formats, and coding supports the development of future high-data-rate, interplanetary laser communications links. These technologies support the most sensitive optical communications links ever developed, enabling communication of several bits per detected photon across vast distances. This work is currently being fielded in a program with NASA to demonstrate laser communications from the moon.
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