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Session E11: PNT Open Systems Architecture 2

Adapting Low SWaP-C Assured PNT Systems to Support Army Open Architecture Standards
Travis Young, Ben Funk, Carole Teolis, TRX Systems; Eric Bickford, Christopher Walter, Michael Caporellie, and John Ball, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) C5ISR Center
Location: Room 1-3
Date/Time: Wednesday, Jun. 4, 5:05 p.m.

Implementing modular open systems architectures (MOSAs) in military systems is essential for enhancing flexibility, adaptability, and effectiveness of military systems and operations. This approach offers significant benefits, particularly in Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) systems, where modular open architectures are critical for fostering collaborative innovation and maintaining technological superiority.
This work is focused on a Low SWaP-C Assured PNT system which already implements a modular architecture with standard IS-GPS/PNT interfaces enabling interfacing to any military satellite receivers that implement the standards, and enabling sharing of location, time and PNT data with end user systems that adhere to the standards as well.
However, until recently there had been no standardization on the PNT plug and play architecture and internal module interfaces. In 2024, the Army released the PNT Reference Architecture 2.0 which abstracts global positioning service (GPS) and non-GPS sensor components into an all-source positioning and navigation (ASPN) sensor assembly implementing interfaces using the ASPN data standard for incoming and outgoing PNT information. In 2024, pntOS 2.0 was released providing a plug-in navigation architecture for a sub-set of navigation fusion filters that implements ASPN 2023 data standards.
At a high level, pntOS is elegant and appealing. Each navigation component is a plug-in that is easily swapped out for another plug-in. Digging just a little deeper, one can see that adapting an existing system to pntOS is quite complex. Especially considering navigation fusion filters and integrity filter implementations not currently supported by pntOS, the numerous sensor types, and so on. Low-SWaP dismount systems additionally require significant optimizations to minimize power for dismount operations. Additionally, despite its many advantages, building open architecture systems requires careful management of intellectual property, adherence to standards, and rigorous security protocols to prevent exploitation by adversaries.
The objective of this work has been to build a prototype modular extensible dismount assured PNT system. This will adapt the current device hardware and software to use
1. the ASPN data standard for incoming and outgoing PNT information, and
2. to implement the pntOS PNT architecture and interfaces
The implementation objective was to enable use of and swapping of PNT plug-ins, and to facilitate testing and fielding of new capabilities.
In this talk, we will discuss how we were able to implement ASPN 2023 and pntOS 2.0 in an existing dismounted system while maintaining full functionality, and minimizing the work required to maintain synchronization with the existing baseline code. We will discuss issues we ran into with sensor addition on a low SWAP platform - specifically focusing on an internally developed UWB ranging and time transfer sensor. We will discuss limitations and potential improvements to the pntOS architecture and interfaces to simplify implementation in existing PNT systems. Despite running an unsupported navigation fusion filter, the system was able to successfully develop a pntOS implementation that will facilitate operation with new sensors and swapping of pntOS modules.
These developments were instrumental in supporting refinement of the architecture and standards needed to achieve the goal of modular open architecture PNT systems. These efforts will support the development of a stronger foundation for ensuring military PNT systems are agile, resilient, and cost-effective. By enabling streamlined upgrades, fostering collaborative innovation, and reducing logistical complexity, MOSAs empower PNT systems to adapt to evolving threats and future requirements. Ultimately, they ensure the Army can provide soldiers with the best possible assured PNT systems, enhancing operational superiority and mission success.

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