Innovative system links Army networks with allies, agencies

n orchestra sounds better if everyone's on the same sheet of music. Having everyone on the same sheet of music also applies to all participants in a military operation or homeland security emergency response.

Trouble is, the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, first responders like the National Guard and State Police, as well as partner-nation militaries, are all on different sheets of music, since each developed its own unique network, which may or may not communicate well with the others, John Kahler said.

Rather than rebuild a new, compatible network for everyone from scratch - an undertaking that would be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming - a bridging capability called Multimedia Gateway, or MMG, was developed to facilitate cross-talk between existing networks, even legacy ones, he said.

 http://www.army.mil/article/151230/Innovative_system_links_Army_networks_with_allies__agencies/