The U.S. Department of Defense Transitions from TDM to IP-Based Networking Solutions
For many years, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has depended on TDM and SONET/SDH networks to deliver reliable and secure voice, video, and telemetry for mission-critical applications. But currently, large swaths of the Defense Information System Network infrastructure have reached the end of their lifecycle with many vendors ending their technical support and maintenance of TDM devices and equipment.
This has created an urgency for the DoD and many other federal agencies to make the transition to IP-based network routing technologies and devices. It’s impractical to think that the Department of Defense and government agencies can make this transition all at once.
At Infinity Technology Solutions, we specialize in assisting government defense agencies in making the switch to IP/MPLS networking solutions from their current legacy systems gradually. With the Nokia 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR), government defense agencies and the DoD can easily migrate from TDM networking technologies to improved IP/MPLS networking capabilities.
Modernizing U.S. Defense Networks with the Nokia 7705 SAR
Moving to IP/MPLS networking with the Nokia 7705 SAR does much more than ease the transition from TDM legacy networks. In industries from utilities to public transit, the introduction of IP-based networking will enable a future evolution to software-defined and 5G networking technology. The same holds true for the Department of Defense and other related government agencies.
Network modernization with Nokia’s 7705 Service Aggregation Router will enable the replacement of legacy networking technologies. It supports layer 2 VPLS/EVPN and layer 3 IP services, and offers rapid service provisioning and easy management when combined with Nokia’s Services Platform from Infinity Technology Solutions.
Despite the benefits of IP-based networking, many federal agencies that have relied on TDM and SONET/SDH may be dubious about migrating to this advanced networking technology. Three issues, in particular, weigh on DoD officials as they consider transitioning from their outdated TDM technologies:
- Delay, jitter, and synchronization
- Network availability and resiliency
- Network security
We will address the three primary concerns above in turn.
The Nokia 7705 SAR Solves Issues of Synchronization
Applications on TDM require exacting frequency synchronization across the entirety of the network to prevent circuit errors such as frame slips and buffering issues. Some would-be adopters of IP/MPLS over Ethernet worry about the former’s ability to meet strict delay and synchronization requirements.
IP/MPLS offers an assured quality of service defined by deterministic delay and jitter. With this technology, TDM traffic can easily be labeled as high-priority to ensure latency budgets are consistently met, while playout buffer minimizes and absorbs network jitter.
Precise synchronization distribution typically mandates a mixture of technological solutions to adapt protocols from facility to facility. For example, some facilities have GPS receivers, while others already possess a T1 interface for synchronization. Whatever the case may be, the 7705 Aggregation Service Router supports many synchronization technologies such as:
- GPS or stratum 1 primary reference clock (PRC)
- Packet Timing Protocol or adaptive and differential clock recovery
- Line Timing such as synchronous Ethernet (ITU-T G.8261x), TDM trunks, or internal stratum 3 clock
- Terminal Timing
The 7705 SAR Delivers High Network Availability
For mission-critical operations, you need high network availability. The key to high availability is determined by strong network resilience. SONET/SDH has become the benchmark for network recovery, and IP/MPLS networks were designed to protect traffic with the same reliability and recovery speed as legacy SONET networks. Additionally, IP/MPLS supports multi-fault resiliency, which means that network communication can be restored even in the event of multiple failures.
With built-in redundancy and traffic rerouting capabilities, the Nokia 7705 provides robust resiliency in the event of equipment failure. Dynamic routing capabilities such as fast rerouting enables the 7705 to restore service in tenths of a millisecond. The 7705 SAR offers not only power redundancy, but also control and switch fabric redundancy.
Network Security with the Nokia 7705 SAR
One of the key benefits of TDM is that it deploys circuit-switching technologies that are closed and time-slotted—reserving channels for specific applications. This makes it harder for cybercriminals to carry out attacks against TDM networks.
While open, standards-based IP networks that deploy packet switching technology are more vulnerable to outside threats, layer 2 and layer 3 VPN services allow IP/MPLS networks to be segmented into different closed domains, which offers protection against cyberattacks.
Nokia’s 7705 Service Aggregation Router, in particular, delivers strong security features designed to ensure the integrity of your network in the event of hijacking, spoofing, and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. These include:
- An application-aware firewall that protects against attacks such as DNS/ICMP replay
- Gateways that offer an extra layer of security for FTP/TFTP connections
- Hardware-based encryption such as IPsec, network group encryption, and advanced key exchange and distribution algorithms, which protect sensitive data while still offering high throughput and minimizing latency.
Infinity Technology Solutions for IP/MPLS Networking
At Infinity Technology Solutions, we carry Nokia’s entire portfolio of IP/MPLS routers and networking equipment for federal agencies such as the DoD, along with utilities, public safety, aviation, and many more, to make the transition from TDM legacy networks to enhanced IP-based networks with ease.
We support our public and private industry partners from project planning and deployment to robust after-sale support.
