ITC/USA 2011 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Seventh Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 24-27, 2011 / Bally's Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada / In this paper, we explore ways in which CTEIP's integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry (iNET) program can benefit from the hardware descriptions supported by the Instrumentation Hardware Abstraction Language (IHAL). We describe how IHAL can be used at the end of the current iNET instrumentation configuration use-case to "fine tune" the instrumentation configuration. Additionally, we describe how IHAL can be used at the beginning of the current instrumentation configuration use-case to enable cross-vendor reasoning and automated construction of multi-vendor instrumentation configurations. Finally, we investigate how IHAL can be used within the iNET system manager to enhance capabilities such as instrumentation discovery.

ITC/USA 2011 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Seventh Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 24-27, 2011 / Bally's Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada / The introduction of network elements into telemetry systems brings a level of complexity that makes performance analysis difficult, if not impossible. Packet simulation is a well understood tool that enables performance prediction for network designs or for operational forecasting. Packet simulators must however be customized to incorporate aeronautical radio channels and other effects unique to the telemetry application. This paper presents a method for developing a Markov Model simulation for aeronautical channels for use in packet network simulators such as OPNET modeler. It shows how the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and the Markov Model (MM) can be used together to first extract the channel behavior of an OFDM transmission for an aeronautical channel, and then effortlessly replicate the statistical behavior during simulations in OPENT Modeler. Results demonstrate how a simple Markov Model can capture the behavior of very complex combinations of channel and modulation conditions.

ITC/USA 2011 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Seventh Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 24-27, 2011 / Bally's Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada / Current real-time data communications links supporting Major Range and Test Facility Base (MRTFB) operations are one-way, dedicated links based on the IRIG 106 standard. One of the goals of the iNET program is to provide for shared, two-way networked communications links enabling more flexible operation and more efficient use of spectrum. Central to this goal is the provision for a Spectrum Assignment Manager (SAM) as referred to in the iNET architecture. The SAM element of the Resource Management Facility (RMF) works in concert with the TmNS Network Manager to support dynamic frequency assignment and real-time metrics adjustment. This paper describes the potential role, key functions, and technology elements needed to support this important function.

ITC/USA 2011 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Seventh Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 24-27, 2011 / Bally's Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada / iNet is a project aimed at improving and modernizing telemetry systems by moving from a link to a networking solution. Changes introduce new risks and vulnerabilities. The nature of the security of the telemetry system changes when the elements are in an Ethernet and TCP/IP network configuration. The network will require protection from intrusion and malware that can be initiated internal to, or external of the network boundary. In this paper we will discuss how to detect and counter FTP password attacks using the Hidden Markov Model for intrusion detection. We intend to discover and expose the more subtle iNet network vulnerabilities and make recommendations for a more secure telemetry environment.

ITC/USA 2014 Conference Proceedings / The Fiftieth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 20-23, 2014 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, CA / One of the core philosophies of the integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry (iNET) project is to leverage standard networking technologies whenever possible to reduce development cost and to allow standard networking applications to function. This also provides the best long-term scalability to new unforeseen applications much as the Internet has grown through its open standards. The Developmental Flight Test phase is currently under way to perform initial flight testing of the Test Article (TA) Network. This paper provides an overview of the planned TA Network Testing and the expected results. Current results from flight testing will be presented at the conference.

ITC/USA 2014 Conference Proceedings / The Fiftieth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 20-23, 2014 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, CA / One of the core philosophies of the integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry (iNET) project is to leverage standard networking technologies whenever possible to both reduce development cost and to allow standard networking applications to function properly. This also provides the best long-term scalability to new unforeseen applications much as the Internet has grown through its open standards. Unfortunately, the Radio Frequency (RF) channel characteristics do not fully lend themselves to the typical physical layer approaches utilized by Internet Protocol (IP) technologies. The iNET project is developing the Telemetry Network System (TmNS) RF Network to provide a flexible two-way IP telemetry capability. The Developmental Flight Test (DFT) phase is currently under way to perform initial flight testing of the RF Network. This paper provides an overview of the planned RF network testing and the expected results. Current results from flight testing will be presented at the conference.

ITC/USA 2013 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Ninth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 21-24, 2013 / Bally's Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV / The transition of telemetry from link-based to network-based architectures opens these systems to new security risks. Tools such as intrusion detection systems and vulnerability scanners will be required for emerging telemetry networks. Intrusion detection systems protect networks against attacks that occur once the network boundary has been breached. An intrusion detection model was developed in the Wireless Networking and Security lab at Morgan State University. The model depends on network traffic being filtered into traffic streams. The streams are then reduced to vectors. The current state of the network can be determined using Viterbi analysis of the stream vectors. Viterbi uses the output of the Hidden Markov Model to find the current state of the network. The state information describes the probability of the network being in predefined normal or attack states based on training data. This output can be sent to a network administrator depending on threshold levels. In this project, a penetration-testing tool called Metasploit was used to launch attacks against systems in an isolated test bed. The network traffic generated during an attack was analyzed for use in the MSU intrusion detection model.

ITC/USA 2013 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Ninth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 21-24, 2013 / Bally's Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV / Multipath interference continues to be the dominant cause of telemetry link outages in low-elevation angle reception scenarios. The most reliable and universally applicable solution to this problem is in the form of equalization. Previous work in this area has considered the Constant modulus algorithm (CMA) equalizer operating in a blind adaptive mode. To the extent that knowledge of the multipath channel improves the performance of CMA and related equalizers and permits the use of other equalization techniques, data aided equalizers are of interest. Channel knowledge is obtained by comparing the received samples with the samples corresponding to a known bit pattern (called a pilot block) periodically inserted in the telemetry data stream. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the performance of a modified CMA equalization algorithm, which has the property of automatically resolving the phase of the QPSK modulated symbol, and to determine its suitability for use with SOQPSK-TG by taking into account the capability of exploiting the presence of a periodically inserted pilot block. As an initial effort in that direction, this paper provides simulation results of the error performance of the blind linear combination of CMA and alphabet matched algorithm (AMA) equalizer as compared to that of pilot assisted equalization with SOQPSK modulation over aeronautical channel.

ITC/USA 2012 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Eighth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2012 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California / The approach to recording data during Test & Evaluation has evolved dramatically over the decades. A simple, traditional approach is to pull all data into a PCM format and record that. A common current approach is to record data in an IRIG 106 Chapter 10 compliant format that records different forms of data (bus, discrete, video, etc.) in different channels of the recorder or exported data file. With network telemetry on the horizon, in the form of the integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry (iNET) standards, much of the data will be transported in iNET messages via Ethernet frames. These messages can potentially carry any type of data from any source. How do we record this data? Ultimately, no matter how the data is stored, it must be translated into a form that can be used for data analysis. Data storage forms that are conducive to this analysis are not necessarily the same that are conducive to real time recording. This paper discusses options and tradeoffs of different approaches to incorporating iNET data structures into the existing T&E architecture.

ITC/USA 2012 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Eighth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2012 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California / The expected efficiency of network-based telemetry systems vs. the tried and true PCM-based approaches is a debated topic. This paper chooses to use a lighthearted voice to pull the two sides of the "war" to a table of negotiation based on metrics. Ultimately, focusing on metrics that truly define efficiency is the key to understanding the varying points of view. A table of these metrics along with the "why and when" criteria for their use is presented based on historic mathematical information theory, true flight test data requirements, and lab analysis. With these metrics, the negotiation and reasonable compromises in the war may become clear. In other words, this paper attempts to provide a methodology that can be used by the community to aid in choosing the appropriate (or good enough) technologies for current and future telemetry testing demands.