An analysis of bandwidth requirements for collaborative planning
By: Michele A. Duncan
Publisher: Naval Postgraduate School; Available from National Technical Information Service
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Monterey, Calif; Springfield, Va
Language: eng
Number of pages: 127
Description: Any military operation, no matter how large or small requires some level of planning. Planning has become      more complicated, requiring interactions across geographical, functional, and organizational boundaries in a      more compressed command and control decision cycle. For ships at sea, planning with other units, at sea or      on shore, is constrained by the availability of communications bandwidth and limitations of the tools used for      real-time interactions. Emerging tools such as audio and video conferencing and shared whiteboard, enable      real-time collaboration among dispersed forces. However, these tools are bandwidth "greedy," requiring      more than is currently available on many ships. In an effort to determine what amount of bandwidth a ship      needs, this thesis used simulation and modeling to experiment with combinations of bandwidth, collaboration      tools, number of planners, and network delivery methods. In general, a bandwidth of 128 kbps enables two      ships to conduct a video and audio session. Using multicast network delivery, 256 kbps enables a ship to      collaborate with five other sites, and at 384 kbps, a ship can conduct a whiteboard with video and audio with      up to eight other sites.
Notes: "June 1998."

Thesis advisor(s): John Osmundson, Dan C. Boger.

Thesis (M.S. in System Technology (Command, Control, and Communications) Naval Postgraduate School, June 1998.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-125)

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

Also available online.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat reader.

US Navy (USN) author.

dk/dk cc:9116 9/2/98.