Fact Sheet: The Army Battlefield Internet Enhanced by Software Defined Radio

Army Battlefield Internet. The Army Battlefield Internet (ABI) is a network connecting all computer systems used by land forces and facilitates communication between them. It forms the vital backbone of the communications system in the battlefield.

Our Existing ABI. The existing ABI was introduced as part of the Wide Area Communications (WAC) system commissioned in 2013, and allows fighting forces to be inter-connected with their Headquarters (HQs) via a high bandwidth data network. While this network is able to support data communications between all land forces, the conventional hardware radios currently in use allow data and voice communication between the HQs only. Communication between fighting forces and HQs is limited to voice communications, as it is constrained by the bandwidth of the conventional hardware radios. Separate radios are also required to facilitate data and voice communications. 

ABI enhanced by Software Defined Radio. The vehicular-mounted Software Defined Radio (SDR) (as shown in Figure 1 below) is the capstone in the development of the ABI, providing connectivity between the HQs and their fighting forces via a wider scope of data and voice communications, including text messaging, sending of pictures and videos, and simultaneous voice and data functions. This enables richer information transfer among all users in the battlefield, providing the HQs with an increased situational awareness of the battlefield and thereby improving the Army’s command and control. The SDR has enhanced the ABI in the following ways:

Data communication includes video conferencing, transmission of videos and images, and file sharing.

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Enhanced Battlefield Internet Improves Army's Command and Control