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Army engineers recently demonstrated network technology that will
allow commanders to conduct mission command using multiple computing
devices from brigade down to the edge.
The Tactical Computing
Environment, or TCE, developed by the U.S. Army Materiel Command’s
Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering
Center, or CERDEC, supports the Army’s Force 2025 and Beyond
strategy, which provides the nation with a more expeditionary and
agile force.
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September 20, 2016 - Christopher O'Neill, CERDEC CP&I engineer,
configures the Tactical Computing Environment, or TCE, extend mode,
which pieces together various points on a digital map to create one,
large map-view similar to what is available in larger command post
video displays. (U.S. Army photo by Susan Sodon, CERDEC)
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“The military’s large, fixed ‘TOC Mahals’ have given way
to smaller, more mobile command posts in an effort to
support the Army’s push for expeditionary mission command,”
said Cynthia Carpenter, CERDEC Command, Power, and
Integration, or CP&I, data engineering chief. “The TCE
provides untethered commanders with the same or better
capabilities than they had with their stationary command
post networked mission command systems.”
The TCE is
one of many CERDEC science and technology efforts that could
help the Army achieve its modernization goals.
“We
believe that the TCE will provide the vital technologies
required for our future forces to conduct mission command in
expeditionary environments, which will be critical for
staying ahead of our adversaries," Carpenter said.
Running on the Android Operating System, the TCE allows
users to collaborate across platforms such as tablets,
laptops, and other mounted and dismounted computing devices,
and is network agnostic, which allows it to operate across
varying bandwidth levels.
CERDEC engineers also
incorporated voice command capabilities and are currently
working on additional Advanced Human-Computer interfaces
such as speech-to-text capability, which would allow the
user to create a text message using his or her voice, and
gesture and eye-tracking interaction, for environments
lacking the traditional mouse and keyboard peripherals.
CERDEC recently transported the TCE software out of the
lab and onto the tactical ranges at its Ground Activity
Range in Fort Dix, New Jersey, to test its effectiveness
across diverse terrains using the Solider Radio Waveform, or
SRW, network.
“The TCE will operate across any
network, but we chose to live test with tablets on the
lower-bandwidth RF network should that be the only network
available to users,” said Andy Harned, CERDEC CP&I TCE
project lead.
Engineers traveled on foot and in
vehicles throughout the ranges’ densely wooded areas to
evaluate TCE’s two modes of collaboration: Mirror and
Extend.
“Leaders can use mirror mode when they and
their staff are geographically dispersed,” Harned said. “All
can view the same map, and all can immediately see changes
to the map, such as new graphics, no matter who makes those
changes.”
The extend mode allows co-located users
out in the field to place their tablets together in a grid
to form one, large screen as an alternative to the large
video displays traditionally found in fixed command posts.
CERDEC engineers successfully employed the extend mode down
on the ground and on the hoods of military vehicles.
“It’s like fitting the pieces of a puzzle together to
create one large map-based planning environment for
Soldiers,” said RJ Regars, CERDEC CP&I test engineer. “The
map views stay synchronized no matter who moves their
tablet, and when the planning session terminates, Soldiers
can disperse in any direction and retain the same plan.”
The Fort Dix test yielded typical SRW related challenges
with varying levels of throughput, latency, and packet loss.
CERDEC anticipates that TCE will undergo live Soldier
testing in early FY 2018 at the Army’s National Training
Center, Fort Irwin, California. Users will have the
opportunity to test TCE over NTC’s new wireless range
network, and based on lab testing using a 4G network, CERDEC
engineers expect to see exceptional network throughput.
Following the NTC test, TCE will be the software
component of CERDEC CP&I's Expeditionary Mission Command
Science and Technology Objective, or EMC STO, also in FY
2018. CERDEC initiated the EMC STO to develop
Commander-focused mission command technology demonstrators
that will inform requirements for the U.S. Army Training and
Doctrine Command, or TRADOC, which will meet the Army's
Command Post 2025 vision, approved in the fall of 2015.
“Expeditionary mission command isn’t just about the
physical aspects of a command post; you have to make the
software expeditionary as well,” Harned said. “If we can
give the commander the capability to collaborate with
leaders and subordinates at the edge, we will provide
tactical agility in the face of current and future threats.”
By Kathryn Bailey, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2017
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