Software defined radio wideband networking QoS test bed

Abstract

The future networked architectures currently in development represent a significant advancement from today's deployed military communications infrastructure. Given the substantial effort in developing and fielding these new technologies, transitional test beds are needed to evaluate networking objectives against simulated results. This paper describes a flexible test bed solution that supports the evaluation of communication protocol layers 1-3 in the context of a multi-channel software defined radio. The test bed provides a path for evaluating emerging high data rate waveforms (e.g. tactical OFDM), adaptive cross-layered quality of service behaviors, and network topology management using the distributed network agent (DNA) tool. It also demonstrates the feasibility of integrating networking technology into fielded SDR platforms. Both the current and planned capabilities of the test bed are described