DARPA advanced logistics transceiver study

Logisticians today must be able to locate combat-trackable items (major end items) on the battlefield 'in-theater', but a joint systems-level capability to do so is not available within DoD. The Information Systems Office of DARPA commissioned a study to determine the concept of operations and perform a communications analysis for a system of small, expendable tags to operate in several logistical settings using a variety of communications relay payloads. This article defines the logistics problem (number of units, message length, frequency, bandwidth, power, communications relay, etc.) from which a development effort could be initiated to field a system within roughly the next 25 years. (Author)