In the trenchesSecure, private Internet and cloud to soldiers, marines at the tactical edge

Content-Based Mobile Edge Networking (CBMEN) program completes initial field testing of software for rapidly sharing up-to-date imagery, maps and other vital information directly among front-line units

Squads of soldiers or marines on patrol in remote forward locations often do not have the luxury of quickly sharing current intelligence information and imagery on their mobile devices, because they cannot access a central server. Troops frequently have to wait until they are back at camp to download the latest updates. In the meantime, mission opportunities may erode because the information needed at the tactical edge isn’t immediately available. 

A DARPA release reports that DARPA’s Content-Based Mobile Edge Networking (CBMEN) program aims to provide an alternative approach to the top down focus of most military networks, which provide content over a common operating environment from the strategic to tactical level. Unfortunately, the tactical level is still a severely constrained communications environment, and often when deployed, networks may not have connectivity to higher headquarters and servers needed to provide the latest updates from other units in the area.

CBMEN turns this world upside down and starts the content sharing at the individual soldier or marine level. If a set of radios or cell phones are disconnected from higher headquarters units, the individuals can still generate and share critical content on their own, significantly improving their common situational awareness and the ability to carry out their mission. This concept moves past the Internet’s “hub-and-spoke” paradigm of requiring point-to-point communications to first go through a central server.

DARPA says it has successfully field-tested CBMEN software loaded on Android-based smartphones and Army Rifleman Radios recently at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginiaa., marking the completion of Phase 1 of the program.

“CBMEN may not sound revolutionary, because people take server access for granted when cell towers, fiber-optic connections and 4G/LTE networks are so widely available worldwide,” said Keith Gremban, DARPA program manager. “But when that infrastructure is not available, CBMEN technology enables real-time information sharing where it hasn’t been possible before. CBMEN puts secure, private collaboration and cloud storage in your pocket.”

DARPA says that the program aims to make each squad member’s mobile device function as a server, so content is generated, distributed and maintained at the tactical edge where it’s needed. As long as troops are within communication range — whether by radio, cellular, Wi-Fi, or other radio frequency devices — CBMEN software automatically replicates and shares updates, causing the tactical