This month the NSA-approved Very High Frequency/Ultra High Frequency (VHF/UHF) Line of Sight (VULOS, version 2.1.1a) waveform and full documentation will be delivered to the Joint Program Executive Office Joint Tactical Radio System (JPEO JTRS) Information Repository.
JTRS retains full Government Purpose Rights to the waveform and can support efforts for porting onto a commercial platform.
NSA conducted an IA Assessment on VULOS in December 2011 and completed a delta-IA Assessment in June 2012 (Defense Daily, May 24).
JPEO JTRS, the Network Enterprise Domain (NED), in conjunction with SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic (SSC LANT), worked to complete the project which began in October 2009 and was completed May 31, the joint office said in a statement.
The VULOS waveform supports 22 narrow and wideband Line of Sight communication modes across the VHF and UHF bands. The waveform is capable of data rates ranging from 2,400 to 56,000 bits per second (bps).
Originally developed by Harris [HRS] under the JTRS Cluster 1 program in 2007, SSC LANT upgraded the waveform to the latest Software Communications Architecture (SCA) and National Security Agency (NSA) Information Assurance (IA) requirements and added the Air Traffic Control modes.
The VULOS waveform completed Functional Qualification Testing (FQT) in October 2011 and demonstrated interoperability with a number of commercial radios including the Harris AN/PRC-117F and the Raytheon [RTN] AN/PSC-5.
The JTRS Test and Evaluation Laboratory (JTEL) certified VULOS compliant with SCA 2.2.2 in March 2012.
During development of the VULOS waveform, SSC LANT demonstrated the capability of performing software defined radio development within a Government Laboratory environment. This capability is critical to the success of the JTRS Reference Implementation Laboratories (JRIL), where SSC LANT now manages the Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW) JRIL.
During development, SSC LANT achieved Carnegie-Mellon Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 3 certification, demonstrating the maturity level of their Software and Program processes equivalent to that found within Industry. SSC LANT also demonstrated the viability of the JTRS Surrogate Radio Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) based Waveform Development and Test Environment.