Multi-Domain Network Orchestration Solution for DARPA

Peraton Labs has been awarded a contract under the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA)’s Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) program to design, develop, integrate, test, and evaluate a multi-domain network orchestration solution. The contract is worth up to $20 million over a 42-month period.

The solution will enable real-time, autonomous discovery and configuration of interconnected military networks to enable on-demand connectivity in challenging tactical environments. 

The goal of MINC is to ensure that critical data finds a path to the right user at the right time in highly contested, highly dynamic and heterogeneous communications environments. Peraton Labs’ solution will replace static configuration of individual tactical networks with automated, mission-driven, and secure control across diverse networks of networks.

“Peraton Labs will develop and deliver an automated network discovery and control solution that can dynamically compose data pathways across multiple warfighting and networking domains to support missions in all-domain warfare,” said Petros Mouchtaris, Ph.D., president, Peraton Labs. “With intelligent, mission-driven control and the ability to interoperate across a heterogeneous mix of legacy and future systems, our solution will provide reliable communications capability to our warfighters.”

Peraton Labs’ solution will orchestrate control across communications, compute, and storage resources by leveraging novel technologies, including:

• A secure, always-on control overlay to discover network resources
• A distributed orchestration framework that reasons over battlespace resources
• A framework for automatically translating mission intent to networking objectives
• An intuitive, flexible interface to deliver rapid situational intelligence and reduce the cognitive load on operators

A critical part of this work effort will be to create a software development kit to provide for the sustained development of MINC-enabled applications beyond the program.

“To build this capability, Peraton Labs leverages deep expertise and extensive experience in machine learning, virtualization, software-defined networking, and tactical communications,” said Mouchtaris. “Our solution will not only enable joint all-domain operations, but also provide a ‘leave-behind’ capability for continued development, integration, and use by third parties.”