[Sponsor Content] - General Dynamics – Reliable Networks, Evolvable Architecture

Reliable Networks, Evolvable Architecture General Dynamics Mission Systems’ Proven Architectural Approach to Developing Tactical Communications and Information Systems (TacCIS)

Operational deployments are complex and challenging. An essential advantage in modern warfare is superiority in information. General Dynamics Mission Systems has developed and delivered numerous Tactical Communications and Information Systems (TacCIS) to Canadian and allied forces. Based on our 30 plus years of experience, we have devised an architectural approach founded on fundamental principles that guide development and ensure that the TacCIS we build are not only stable and reliable, but evolvable, so that they can take effective advantage of emerging technologies. This white paper discusses those principles and our approach to TacCIS architecture, which we call Vertex.

Introduction We have all experienced the frustration of unreliable Internet access. Thankfully, the commercial networks upon which we rely so much in our day-to day life – for instantaneous communication, for up-to-the-minute news, for directions – are increasingly reliable. For military personnel in an operational deployment, if communications and information systems fail, there is more on the line than frustration. Time-sensitive voice and data communications must be shared among mobile and dismounted personnel, headquarters, and other deployed assets. That is why Tactical Communications and Information Systems (TacCIS) must deliver reliable, high-capacity networks capable of carrying vital information across the battlefield, allowing commanders to make informed decisions and issue direction.

The Tactical Internet, upon which TacCIS rely, offers functionality similar to commercial networks with which every reader is familiar. However, it must provide this functionality working on the disadvantages, intermittent and losey communications links found in military mobile ad hoc networks. Further, the TacCIS must mesh together the heterogeneous communication elements to support the more challenging dependencies, integration and interoperability requirements of today’s armies.

In addition to the engineering challenges, factor in that there are multiple stakeholders involved in this “system of systems,” who often have conflicting priorities and objectives.

Then consider the growing focus on open and evolvable architectures; the inevitable scope and schedule modifications; the continuous training, institutionalization requirements, and the fact that procurements must be competitive. With all these factors in play, developing and fielding a TacCIS is far from straightforward.

What does work? We have developed a proven approach to developing TacCIS, based upon 30 plus years and over 40 contracts worth of tactical communications and information systems experience, with over $17.5M in R&D invested. It is shaped by our interactions with our customers around the globe, and the commonalities that we see in their desired outcomes, which include operational outcomes like an architecture that delivers the tactical element of a single information environment, superiority of information, increased operational tempo, and increased agility and flexibility in operations; as well as procurement outcomes like an architecture that enables rapid exploitation of emerging technologies, vendor independence, and increased agility and flexibility in procurement.

We have refined a consistent, principles-based approach to TacCIS architecture, adopting and adapting the work of some of the foremost thinkers in the area of IT architecture and borrowing from the world of software development methodologies.

We call this approach Vertex, and using the Vertex architecture, results in affordable, evolvable and effective TacCIS solutions. It is the foundation of the customized solutions we have offered customers like the Canadian Armed Forces, the British Armed Forces, the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, and the Romanian army. It is the approach we used to develop our successful MeshNET product line. It is an approach that is making a big difference at General Dynamics and that can, in turn, be adopted and adapted by others.

Contents 4 What is Architecture and Why Does it Matter?

4-6 Architectural Principals 6 Tactical Integration Framework 7 The Vertex Approach to Architecture Delivers on Customers’ Desired Outcomes 8 Conclusion 9 Contact Information

PAGE 3

What Is Architecture and Why Does It Matter?

In the world of information and communications technologies, system architecture is the high-level design that addresses the objectives and concerns of stakeholders.

The concept has been evolving over the past few decades as developers recognized the importance of moving away from a stovepipe, product-based approach, where the different information and communications needs of an organization are met as they come up (costly and inflexible), towards a coherent and consistent approach to delivering capabilities to clients. J.A. Zachman arguably instigated the field in 1987 with his article titled “A Framework for Information Systems Architecture,� in the IBM System Journal. The United States Department of Defence was an early adopter, developing the Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM) in the 1990s to create better alignment between business needs and technical projects. The TAFIM was in turn adopted and adapted by the Open Group into The Open Group Architectural Framework (TOGAF) , which is a widely recognized architectural process.

Our own Vertex approach is a child of both Zachman and TOGAF, with a unique perspective, shaped by the context of our sector, and more particularly by the needs and desired outcomes of our clients, which have in turn shaped the principles upon which Vertex is based.

Having a defined architecture is like having a good road map. Knowing where you are headed makes it easier to avoid going the wrong way

Like its predecessors, our system architecture defines the vision, objectives, principles, and themes of the system. It is established taking into account the context of the user environment and it dictates the structure and organisation of the parts (their relationship to each other). But whereas some approaches specify hardware and software, the Vertex architectural approach is deliberately independent of product or tool and based on open standards, the better to facilitate the ability to embrace change and evolve the system, which are important core principles. The fact that our approach is principles based, which is discussed in more detail below, is another key differentiator from other approaches.

The Architectural Principles General Dynamics has gained tremendous experience through the development and delivery of multiple TacCIS. Lessons learned have led to the recognition that there are fundamental architectural principles that guide their development and avoid creating stovepipes. Application of these architectural principles enables a TacCIS to take advantage of emerging technologies in a competitive manner, resulting in an affordable, evolvable and effective TacCIS solution. They owe a debt to the Agile approach, itself principle driven (see sidebar). General Dynamics is an experienced partner in delivering C4ISR, TacCIS, and other systems, using iterative and incremental Agile and SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) processes. We know first hand the value of nimble adaptation that continuously drives forward to delivery, based on clear objectives.

PAGE 4

The Vertex principles are as follows: 1. Use standards

a. support vendor independence b. ease integration c. provide the largest number of options

2. User first

a. change the system, not the user b. provide meaningful feedback c. user can always override the system d. focus on usability and the user-centered experience e. provide the right tool for the job

3. No single point of failure

a. Decentralize system services b. System can operate with local data only c. Decentralize decision making to the lowest possible level

4. Many bearers but one network

a. Internetwork of heterogeneous subnetworks of legacy and new bearers b. Integrated industry and enterprise standards c. Interoperable at the boundaries with coalition and defense enterprise ICT

5. Bandwidth is a resource, not a limitation

a. protect the user from misusing the network b. Quality of Service (QoS) based information transfer to maximize use of the available capacity by prioritizing traffic c. use the best transport for the end-to-end path

6. Usable security

a. “Need to Know� with personal accessibility b. In-depth malware and intrusion protection and detection c. Polices to control access based on user and data attributes d. Tactical public key infrastructure with over-the-air rekeying

7. Single information environment

a. common access mechanisms for a diffused and resilient distributed information store b. evolvable federation of information sources c. share information with enterprise, joint and coalition ICT systems

8. Embrace change, design for evolution

a. expect the addition of new applications, new devices, and bearers b. be Agile and flexible enabling exploitation of emerging technologies

9. Federate and adapt

a. application adapters and data transformers to integrate applications b. platform and device adapters to integrate weapon and sensor subsystems c. bearer personality modules to integrate bearers d. gateways for enterprise, joint, and coalition interoperability

10. Independent of technology

a. independence of vendor b. independence of programming language c. independence of operating environment d. independence of hardware

PAGE 5

The Agile approach germinated with Dr. Winston Royce in the 1970’s who criticized the idea of waterfall development, arguing that a sequential approach was inappropriate to highly specialized and complex work like software development, because it precluded communication between those responsible for various stages of design and development, and didn’t allow for requirements to be refined along the way. In the early 2000’s, a group of software developers built on this idea with their Agile manifesto, based upon the following four value statements: • • • •

Individuals and interactions, over processes and tools Working software, over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration, over contract negotiation Responding to change, over following a plan

In presenting the values, they emphasized that they did not dismiss the importance of what is contained in the concluding part of each statement, but rather prioritized what is contained in the introductory part.

The value statements are elaborated in a set of 12 principles, the first of which outlines that the highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

The way these principles are applied can vary in the details but the important constants are that the target system architecture will always define the vision, objectives, principles, and themes. These will be set as the guiding stars, with the knowledge and expectation that many of the elements that flow from them are subject to change. Indeed, the evolutionary aspect of the design is also, ironically, a constant. The target system architecture then comes into play as a guide for making technology trade-offs, for identifying areas of risk and anticipating the impact when technology changes.

The target system architecture must be developed with an understanding of what is fixed and fundamental to success (invariant) and what is more subject to change (variant).

For example, the architecture of the interfaces and their interdependencies is sheared off from more invariant aspects, based on the sure knowledge that change will come. In the more variant areas, design decisions are guided by the target and vision, but left as late as possible in the process, something that is facilitated by the Agile approach. So, evolutionary and agile with fixed stars to orient towards, because you can’t know you are going the wrong way if you don’t know where you are going.

The Tactical Integration Framework The lynchpin of a delaminated, layered and modular TacCIS architecture is the Tactical Integration Framework (TIF). The TIF ties together off-the-shelf or bespoke applications, bearers, devices, and platforms into a cohesive and effective system of systems. The TIF (or elements thereof) resides on every platform (HQ, vehicle, man) within the system.

Coherently specifying the responsibilities of the set of components and enforcing their role with well-defined open and standard interfaces within the system architecture is the biggest single factor in opening up the TacCIS architecture and enabling affordable and rapid evolution.

An Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) is a set of rules and principles for integrating multiple applications in a common infrastructure (the bus). The central concept is that all the different applications must exist side-by-side but decoupled. They communicate with the bus, and, through the bus, with each other, but without dependency on or even knowledge of other systems on the bus.

PAGE 6

The Vertex Approach to Architecture Delivers on Customers’ Desired Outcomes In delivering TacCIS systems to our customers around the globe over the course of the past 30 years, we have found, perhaps unsurprisingly, a great deal of commonality in the outcomes, whether operational or relating to procurement. Customers’ expect an architecture that delivers a solution that gives them: • The tactical element of a single information environment • Superiority of information • Increased operational tempo • Increased agility and flexibility in operations • The ability to rapidly exploit emerging technologies • Vendor independence, and • Increased agility and flexibility in procurement Our Vertex architecture delivers on these outcomes in a variety of ways. Our architecture provides adaptive information transfer and open interfaces to facilitate application integration. It supports one network that is tactically specialized by the Dynamics Tactical Internet Services (DTIS) providing tactical network-wide quality of service (QoS) out to the enterprise.

It can accommodate many bearers and both Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) and Military Off the Shelf (MOTS) radio technologies tied into personal area, local area, and wide area domains supporting with open interfaces to facilitate dynamic link discovery and feedback as part of seamless bearer integration.

Effective architecture leads to greater business efficiency, better and faster implementation of new IT and improved IT operations, better capacity to adapt to change, better value for customers, faster and cheaper procurements, and reduced risk.

It readily accepts modular hardware, COTS where applicable, or scalable, modular MOTS, tuned to platform needs. It offers usable security, with one Identity and Access Management (idAM), and single or multiple security domains, as well as next generation security through efficient use of virtual machines.

It is enterprise interoperable. The network and all applications are open and accessible by design, which enables the tactical network to be treated as any other network, including the functionality for tactical multimedia applications.

PAGE 7

Conclusion Developing, deploying and supporting a TacCIS is a complex endeavor that has challenged most armies. At General Dynamics, based on our 30 plus years of experience working with armies all over the world, we have developed an architectural based approach to developing and delviering TacCIS; we can this architecture Vertex.

The proven principles of the Vertex architecture provides a structured roadmap, simplifying the development and continual evolution, that realizes an operational capability that enables commanders to command. Further, our approach is adaptable and scalable to our customer’s needs.

At General Dynamics, our promise to our customers in terms of tactical communications and information systems is encapsulated by the motto ‘Always Aware; Never Alone’ because we know that the situational awareness delivered by superior TacCIS is a differentiator that delivers tactical advantage and saves lives.

Please contact us to find out more about our TacCIS solutions based on the Vertex Architecture.

Zachman, J.A. "A Framework for Information Systems Architecture." IBM Systems Journal, Volume 26, Number 3, 1987 ii Department of Defense (1996). Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management. Vol. 1. April 1996 iii www.opengroup.org/togaf iv http://agilemanifesto.org/ i

PAGE 8

©2019 General Dynamics. All rights reserved.

www.gdmissionsystems.ca info@gd-ms.ca