{{About, the military communication protocol, the instant messaging protocol, SIMPLE (disambiguation){{!SIMPLE The Standard Interface for Multiple Platform Link Evaluation (SIMPLE) is a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

communications protocol A communication protocol is a system of rules that allows two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information via any kind of variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax, semantics and synchr ...

defined in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

's Standardization Agreement STANAG 5602.

Purpose

SIMPLE defines a communications protocol to provide the means for geographically (national and international) separated Tactical Data Link (TDL) equipment ( C4ISR, C2 and non-C2 test facilities) to exchange environment data and TDL messages in order to conduct detailed TDL

Interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader defi ...

(IO) testing. It is intended to provide specifications for a common standard to interconnect ground rigs of all types, such as

simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the s ...

and integration facilities. The SIMPLE allows transmission of

M-Series M series may refer to: Computers * M series (computer), a line of computers designed in the USSR * ThinkCentre M series, a line of desktop computers * Sony Vaio M series, a line of desktop computers and a line of netbook computers Mobile phones ...

and J-Series messages over IP-based protocols. Previously J-Series messages could be sent using the

Link 16 Link 16 is a military tactical data link network used by NATO and nations allowed by the MIDS International Program Office (IPO). Its specification is part of the family of Tactical Data Links. With Link 16, military aircraft as well as ship ...

protocol. However, Link 16 is a

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

protocol with a

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

range that limits the exchange of information to within line-of-sight. Use of flexible bearer protocols, such as IP, makes it easier to exchange such J-Series data, particularly for simulations and integration. However, the SIMPLE is not limited to use for simulation and integration, and is finding applications beyond its original purpose wherever transmission of J-Series data is not amenable over radio protocols such as Link 16.

Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) protocols

The SIMPLE standard specifies the distributed transfer of a simulated scenario/synthetic environment using the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operat ...

Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) protocols. DIS is a government/industry initiative to define an infrastructure for linking simulations of various types at multiple locations to create realistic, complex, virtual worlds for the simulation of highly interactive activities. A new protocol data unit (PDU) definition, the DIS PDU was added to the baseline protocol to support the exchange of DIS PDUs for simulated entities. The content of the SIMPLE DIS PDU packet is related to the DIS PDUs defined in the IEEE 1278.1 standard. As such, most Transmitter and Signal PDU fields require no translation.

Structure of the SIMPLE protocol

The SIMPLE standard consists of several elements. These are: * the communications bearer (e.g. telephone lines, digital WANs) * the

encryption In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can de ...

methods to be used to protect the secure information transmitted between sites * the protocols/data formats for the data transfer process * additional aspects such as time co-ordination SIMPLE is an application layer protocol that is designed to be independent of the

transport layer In computer networking, the transport layer is a conceptual division of methods in the layered architecture of protocols in the network stack in the Internet protocol suite and the OSI model. The protocols of this layer provide end-to-end ...

. It can run using the following transport layer protocols: * UDP broadcast * UDP multicast * TCP * Serial

TDL message exchange

In SIMPLE, the method for exchanging TDL messages is to take the host generated message traffic from the MIDS/ JTIDS terminal interface and repackage it for transmission across the SIMPLE network. The receiving SIMPLE node extracts the TDL message traffic from the received packet and presents it to the host interface as if it had been received from a MIDS/JTIDS terminal.

Addressing

The addressing supports specific nodes, groups, and broadcast to all. These address forms are independent of the transport, which may have similar concepts (Serial and TCP point-to-point, UDP multicast and broadcast). Any SIMPLE addressing needs to go over any physical transport layer (although that may be open to interpretation).

History

The development of SIMPLE resulted from the requirement in February 1996 of the Ad Hoc Working Group (AHWG) on NATO Common Interoperability Standards (NCIS) Testing for a single interface standard to support the interconnection of NATO resources.

References

NATO STANAG 5602: Edition 3

SISO J to SIMPLE Translation Advice and Lexicon for Enabling Simulations (SIMPLE TALES), Joe Sorroche, ASRC Communications, Ltd.
Military communications Military simulation Application layer protocols