Distributed SATCOM On-The-Move Terminal Open Standard Architecture architectural details

The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC), with a consortium of industry partners, is developing the Distributed Satellite Communications (SATCOM) On-The-Move (SOTM) Terminal (DST) Open Standard Architecture (OSA). The DST OSA is a nonproprietary, open architecture for the engineering design of a SOTM terminal with distributed antennas integrated on a tactical ground vehicle. The open standardized interfaces between system components are intended to increase market competition and reduce acquisition and life-cycle costs for DST components. Furthermore, the modular architecture defined in the DST OSA will enable research and development efforts to be more efficient and lower risk by focusing on the component level. Modular component development will in turn increase the speed and frequency of system technology refresh and new deployment. Current developments in system architecture are described in this paper.