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November 02, 2009
AGIS LifeRing Helps Deliver Information to the U.S. Military
By Anuradha Shukla, TMCnet Contributor
Advanced Ground Information Systems, Inc. reportedly has completed a U.S. Joint Forces Command Limited Operational Assessment of cellular broad band communications.
The Jupiter, Fla.-based company has completed the project by using its LifeRing software and it received a good "Ease of Use" rating by the participating organizations. The tactical cellular prototype consists of a 3G network and will be used for small unit operations.
According to company’s officials, they used a Special Operations Forces cellular system and a vehicle mounted satellite transmission system to assess the ability to exchange on the move information between dismounted soldier and small Marine units. The operation focuses on reducing the size, weight and battery requirements of the devices used and thus small cellular enabled PDAs and Netbooks were chosen for the purpose.
Many organizations participated in the testing- the U.S. military's Joint Fires Integration and Interoperability Team (JFIIT), Joint Systems Integration Center (JSIC), and JFCOM J84.
Officials said that high bandwidth cellular communications along with LifeRing may provide a means to network surface, airborne, and space. This will help small units at the front to have a comprehensive Common Operational Picture.
Cap Beyer, AGIS' CEO, said that cell phones are small, light, have integral color displays, use smaller batteries and provide vastly superior bandwidth. Due to these benefits they are now preferred over radios.
Cellular is thus now becoming popular for small military units operating at the edge of the Battlespace and provides them with effective Situational Awareness and reach-back to higher level commands.
“The completed JFCOM Limited Operational Assessment used relevant tactical tasks that successfully verified these concepts,” Beyer said in a statement.
AGIS LifeRing is helping the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), as well as other Government customers, to provide a COP, real time digital collaboration and Full Motion Video between Agents.
“AGIS LifeRing is designed so that it can be configured to meet the differing demands of the Military, Government Agencies and First Responders,” Beyer said. “It operates simultaneously on cellular, mesh networks, satellite, Military and First Responder radios.”
Anuradha Shukla is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anuradha’s article, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Amy Tierney
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