Emerging Commercial Mobile Wireless Technology and Standards: Suitable for the Army?

The U.S. Army, as well as the other services, is moving in the direction of greater use of commercial technology and standards. The principal motivation for this change is the desire to reduce costs. However, increased interoperability is another potential benefit. This report evaluates commercial wireless communications technology, including components and subsystems, physical layer standards (waveforms and signal processing), protocol standards, and products and services. The author attempts to assess the suitability of these commercial technologies for Army tactical applications and to suggest the appropriate mix of commercial, military-unique, and military variants of commercial systems for use on the digital battlefield. The author recommends specific Army research and development areas where progress is needed in order to address voids between military requirements and currently available and emerging technology.