Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplexc System (GEDMS) - Enabling the Net-Centric Evolution of Navy Combatants

The data multiplex system (DMS), AN/USQ-82(V), first installed in the DDG 51 Arleigh Burke class destroyers DDGs 51-78, is a multi-protocol shipwide area network specifically intended for real-time control system communications. Conceived as a redundant coaxial cable system supporting Navy-specific interfaces and communications protocols over a circuit-switched infrastructure, DMS allows the intercommunication of major ship systems. DMS has evolved to incorporate and support open architecture, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products. The DMS backbone network was updated to a redundant fiber optic ring system and became the fiber optic data multiplex system (FODMS). Installed or planned for installation in most of the Flight IIA ships of this class (DDGs 79-110), FODMS introduced fiber optics and packet switching. The Gigabit Ethernet data multiplex system (GEDMS), which is the next iteration beyond FODMS, is planned for DDG 111 and follow, as well as being a DMS replacement for DDGs 51-78. GEDMS upgrades the backbone network to a 1 Gb/s redundant Ethernet mesh, bringing enhanced multimedia capability to the ships. This paper traces the evolution of the DMS family of networks, as well as the growing roles of these shipwide networks, as Navy combatants become more network-centric