The Institute has developed technical expertise in data communications network testing as a result of the Digital Networks Program and related work described earlier in this brochure. This expertise is currently being applied to the technical testing of a major Department of Defense office automation and data communications network. The United States Army is developing and preparing to field the Reserve Component Automation System (RCAS) to fulfill long-standing plans to improve the operational readiness of its Reserve Component (Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve). The RCAS is to be an automated information system that will support the decision-making needs of all commanders, staffs, and functional managers responsible for Reserve Component forces. The RCAS will use state-of-the-art office automation, telecommunications, data bases, and processing capability to provide timely and accurate information to plan, prepare, and execute mobilization and to improve the accomplishment of routine administrative tasks. The system will be self sufficient, but will also be capable of exchanging data with related information systems used by the Active and Reserve Components. The RCAS components will be installed in approximately 10,000 Reserve and Guard units located at 5000 sites worldwide.The RCAS Program Management Office (PMO) has awarded a $1.6B contract to industry for an integrated hardware, software, and telecommunications system which will satisfy the automation and telecommunications requirements of the Army Reserve and National Guard. The Institute has established a 5-year agreement with the RCAS PMO to perform the RCAS technical test function. This work involves developing technical test plans, establishing an RCAS test bed, and conducting a series of engineering tests to evaluate the functionality, conformance with specifications, and performance of the RCAS as it is developed and deployed.
The Institute has developed an RCAS test bed at the Boulder Laboratories that is capable of simulating any two Army Reserve or National Guard echelon system configurations of the proposed RCAS. The test bed includes representative data base servers, office automation servers, mail servers, X- terminals, local area networks, FTS-2000 services, communication routers and modems, a network management system, and encryption devices. Functional capability includes commercial office automation software elements and specific software applications for RCAS functional capabilities. Additional test equipment includes network simulators, network analyzers, a remote terminal emulation system, traffic generators, and test software. The test bed hardware is shown in the above figure. The test bed was completed in the Fall of 1992.
In coordination with the PMO, the Test Integration Working Group (TIWG), and participating operational test and evaluation personnel, ITS has developed the technical test plans for RCAS. The technical testing encompasses four levels of testing: static and dynamic test bed tests and limited configuration and extended configuration wide area network tests. Both hardware and software components of the RCAS will be delivered in a number of blocks, with each block building on the previous ones and adding functionality to the fielded system. Technical testing will be performed on a system level to validate the engineering and design of the system as required by the specifications and to establish the performance limits of the system. Technical testing of the first block began during the second quarter of FY 92.
