“Where we typically had big satellite dishes, server stacks and all kinds of extra vehicles, we're now talking about a commander that's on the field and a staff that is basically operating off of tablets and software-defined radios and very simple kit, which will make us much more mobile, much more lower signature.” - Chief of Staff of the Army, GEN Randy George

Executive Summary

With Ditto’s acquisition of  KeySquare Labs (KSL), Ditto customers can now access Propagate, KSL’s groundbreaking Software Defined Networking (SDN) platform that enables Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Android Phones and Tablets to securely support the data sharing and networking requirements for military, first-responder, and public safety data sharing applications such as ATAK.  

Propagate allows COTS Android devices to interconnect securely with Military Radios and Tactical Appliances.  With Propagate, military and public-sector customers no longer have to rely on expensive custom Android End User Devices (EUDs). Furthermore, Propagate transforms any Android device into a powerful tactical edge network hub, that can:

• Support Edge Network Routing amongst multiple disparate terrestrial networks;
• Function as a Terrestrial<->Cloud Gateway via any network path the Android-internal radios can talk to (Public/Private LTE, WIFI/Starlink/Starshield etc.); and
• Act as a Robotic Network Interface Control, providing COTS Androids with the network plumbing found in custom-built Ground Control Stations (GCS) for Aerial and Ground Unmanned Systems.

In short, Propagate allows military and other public sector customers to field capabilities faster, more securely, and less expensively than before.

How does Propagate achieve this? 

To answer that question, let’s look at how Propagate works with one of the US government’s most important tactical situational awareness and data-sharing applications, the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK).

The ATAK Problem: Customized Hardware and Software

But first, some history.  

Before ATAK, U.S. and allied forces faced a persistent challenge in situational awareness and coordination at the tactical edge.   Existing systems were designed for vehicles, not dismounted soldiers. There was no easy way to digitally send target coordinates, imagery, or routes between air and ground units. Drones and aircraft collected video and sensor data, but there was no lightweight way for a squad leader or the JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controllers) on the ground to pull data into their handhelds.  

In the early 2000’s, the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) initiated ATAK as an Android-based, government-owned, open architecture software kit.  The goal of ATAK was to have an app that could generate mission data: position reports, chat, sensor feeds, imagery in the form of standard IP packets, built using Android’s networking stack, and then – this is important – be able to securely share that data over existing, closed military RF networks, which the COTS Android Network Stack wasn’t built to support.

To meet this requirement, the DoD opted for a technical solution that would have far-reaching implications: ATAK would use a custom End User Device (EUD), e.g. a customized tactical smartphone or tablet.  

This EUD would have customized software running in its “kernel space,” the core of any Android device, where the device’s operating system kernel runs.  Importantly, software in the kernel space can only be modified by the device manufacturer (e.g. Samsung). Relying on custom EUD’s is costly – but it could be justified initially, when ATAK was deployed to a relatively small number of military users in special operations and the ecosystem of relevant applications was in its early stages of development.   

However, ATAK is now the dismounted Battalion-and-below mission command platform for the entire DoD as well as some of our closest Allies, with total users in the USG alone at over 300,000 as of November 2023.  As tactical data sharing requirements increase, there is every reason to believe the number of ATAK users will continue to grow.

Furthermore, in the years since ATAK was first fielded, many third-party vendors have developed powerful software tools for edge-based Android devices that can deliver unique capabilities for our warfighters. The Android original device manufacturers such as Google and Samsung are constantly increasing onboard CPU+GPU power, driven by the commercial market tailwind.  

In this environment, ATAK’s reliance on a custom EUD (such as the Samsung S23 TE) have become serious limiting factors to the achievement of Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2), hindering the fielding of new ATAK capabilities and its global deployment. Some Active Duty US Army Brigades are waiting to receive their first ATAK EUDs until 2030 and beyond due to the scale and cost prohibitions of the legacy approach.

Propagate: Advanced Tactical Networking Capabilities on COTS Android Devices

Propagate removes these limiting factors by replacing custom kernel functions with a consumer app. Propagate is a patent-pending Software Defined Networking (SDN) technology that can run on any of the 3+ Billion Android Phones and Tablets throughout the world.  Propagate addresses the unique networking and data orchestration requirements at the tactical edge in a fundamentally new technical approach.

Whereas a custom Android EUD implements ATAK’s special networking features within the EUD’s kernel space, Propagate’s SDN approach implements them in a wholly-compartmented Internet Protocol (IP) Stack within the Android device’s User Space, where third-party applications run.  

One obvious benefit of this approach is that Propagate reduces the cost and time to field ATAK capabilities by reducing ATAK’s dependence on custom EUDs. The custom EUD kernel images are tied to a specific version of Android, which has led to instances where users are unable to update to the latest version of ATAK because it is not compatible with the Android OS that is locked on their custom device.   

Propagate enables a shift from tactical edge networks that depend on single points of fragile and expensive hardware to networks that use commoditized hardware and software that can be downloaded and installed easily

Another is improved device security: by moving the networking and data orchestration capabilities out of the device kernel, Propagate reduces the risk of the device kernel being compromised by not requiring privileged access to the Trusted Compute Base, as is the case with the legacy custom kernel approach. Existing USG programs such as the NSA’s Commercial Solutions for Classified program do the requisite technical interrogation of COTS devices for classified use, and those devices have ubiquitous availability on the commercial market. 

The transformative aspect of Propagate is that it enables a shift from tactical edge networks that depend on single points of fragile and expensive hardware to networks that rely on commoditized hardware and software that can be downloaded and installed like any other consumer app.

Conclusion: From Expensive and Fragile to Low Cost, Resilient, and Easy to Deploy

In a Propagate-enabled scenario, where the networking and data orchestration occur on the Android EUDs worn/held by the Soldier or mounted in a vehicle, every Soldier is a potential Router, Terrestrial-Cloud Gateway, and Robotic Controller.  Every warfighter is a network switch, with their COTS Android serving as both their digital interface and their network hardware. 

Whereas current battlefield technology for static or dynamic edge network routing is achieved through custom-built, bulky, and expensive physical hardware, Propagate supports a Software Defined future where warfighters do not have to move these boxes around the battlespace. 

Whereas the current approach is as fragile as the network hardware’s potential for damage, a Software Defined approach isn’t vulnerable to damaged equipment because the equipment is plentiful and a commodity. 

Whereas the current approach faces a contested logistics problem, the Software Defined approach projects this functionality anywhere in the world at the speed of a download.