RAF Transportable Telecommunications System
The RAF Transportable Telecommunications System (RTTS) provides the extension of the RAF office environment into the field of operation with real time operational IT systems through evolutionary technology insertion.
- Flexible configuration
- Reliable and robust
- High quality voice system
- Secure service provision
- Evolutionary upgrade
RTTS is an investment, enabling the extension of the RAF office IT environment into the field of operation, providing support for real-time operational IT systems. To do this the system has been provided with the ability to deliver multimedia, policy-based services, whilst allowing the RAF to provide end to end service management from the UK to the deployed operation. This requires close integration with existing networks to ensure that the solution encompasses bearer management and UK fixed network integration.
Features
The EADS solution includes:
- An increased number of rear-link speech circuits with improved voice quality
- Capability to accommodate rear-link data rates of up to 2Mbps
- Provision of core LAN infrastructure identical to that used on RAF UK systems, thus ensuring that IT systems migrate easily and quickly to the Deployable LAN (DLAN) environment, and also ensuring that the management interface into DLAN is identical to that used elsewhere
- Integration of the DLAN WAN (Wide Area Network) as closely as possible with RTTS, ensuring that the WAN bandwidth management and policy application are identical regardless of the WAN bearer type used
- Employment of the packaging and operational philosophy already proven on RTTS and DLAN to minimize cost by re-using as much existing hardware as possible EADS viewed the upgrade – as a physical and logical extension of the UK facilities in order to facilitate the delivery of services wherever needed in the digital battle space.
Technical briefing
The rear link secure speech upgrade provided a new secure voice management enclosure, replacing the functionality of the existing SVM.
The equipment within the new enclosure includes a multimedia switch, which provides excellent voice features and functionality. The multimedia switch has the capability to dynamically switch voice calls by interpreting signalling. This facility is closely integrated with the existing RTTS PABX. The combination allows maximum utilisation of scarce Satcom bandwidth. This system improvement is facilitated by the introduction of variable rate fibre optic modules and security equipment.
Deployable LAN (DLAN)
The DLAN solution includes Ethernet switching at each site to provide the bandwidth and control required to extend the RAF IT systems into theatre. Both System High REStricted (SHRES) and System High SECret (SHSEC) switch enclosures can be concatenated, providing scalability, which can be repeated as required to respond to any size of deployment.
WAN connectivity is provided using the existing RTTS equipment.
The multimedia switch enables RTTS/DLAN with the facility for intelligent networking and bandwidth management. The system becomes fully multi-media enabled and can carry both voice and data over existing RTTS infrastructure.
More recently, EADS has been awarded the further enhancement to the RTTS system. The original radio equipment contained within the system is now being replaced by ruggedised commercial equipment. This permits the release of these valuable deployable assets and ensures their availability for current and future RAF out of area missions.
Through the intelligent voice compression and call routing routine within the multimedia switch, RTTS uses the scarce Satcom resources available both in-theatre and from the UK more efficiently.