A Dynamic Infrastructure for Interconnecting Disparate ISR/ISTAR Assets (the ITA Sensor Fabric)

Modern ISR1ISTAR2 networks comprise a very diverse and disparate set of asset types and networking technologies, which provide a unique set of challenges in the areas of sensor identification, classification interoperability and sensor data sharing, dissemination and consumability. This paper presents the ITA Sensor Fabric, developed as part of the International Technology Alliance ITA in Network and Information Science a middleware infrastructure that addresses these challenges by providing uni eduniversal policy controlled access to, and management of, ISRISTAR networks. The ITA Sensor Fabric spans the network from command and control, through forward operating bases, and out to mobile forces and elded both mobile andor xed sensors in the area of operations. This paper also presents a use case scenario developed in partnership with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory ARL and deployed in ARLs Wireless Emulation Laboratory WEL that demonstrates the ITA Sensor Fabric applicability to coalition operations.