Navy Demonstrates 5G for Machine Learning, Security Cameras, Zero Trust and More

written by

Brandy Vincent
June 8, 2022 | FEDSCOOP

Pentagon and Navy officials noticed an AT&T-provided 5G network powering artificial intelligence, augmented reality, machine learning and other large-scale applications during a recent pilot event at the Naval Base from Coronado to San Diego.

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5G wireless technology refers to the latest and fastest version of cellular communication tools. These protests come just a year and a half after the Ministry of Defense Advertising $600 million in rewards to a number of business partners to create the largest 5G network Test dual-use applications around the world – through five US military test sites.

At Naval Base Coronado, the Pentagon intends to develop a 5G-enabled smart warehouse centered around recharging between coastal facilities and offshore units.

“The Department of Defense is conducting a variety of 5G-related trials with AT&T and other vendors to explore how it can help them improve their technology advantages in the future,” said Lance Spencer, Executive Vice President of Customer Affairs for Defense at AT&T Public Sector and FirstNet. FedScoop Monday. “The Department of Defense has recognized the need to explore and use commercial network capabilities to avoid the enormous costs of trying to build their own networks.”

AT&T is the only 5G network provider with this experience based in California, but cloud solutions and applications are also provided by other providers.

“The AT&T 5G solution we built at Naval Station Coronado is the first of its kind,” Spencer noted.

This high-performance private network solution combines spectrum, carrier-class wireless access, roaming capabilities, enhanced cybersecurity, and more.

According to Spencer, demonstrations of a 5G-enabled smart warehouse solution demonstrated that the Navy and the Department of Defense “can benefit directly from the [AT&T’s] Extensive network of towers, fibres, equipment and spectrum. The various prototyping use cases presented at the event focused on 5G RAN and its optimization for warehouse operations through increased data throughput, Internet of Things (IoT) support, and low latency.

For example, officials from the Naval Information Warfare Center-Pacific presented their Battlefield Exploitation Mixed Reality (BEMR) lab to demonstrate how 5G-enabled virtual and augmented reality can be applied to military training, maintenance and other applications, as well as operations. .

Another demonstration related to video surveillance included a high-resolution camera placed in a highly secure room where critical technological infrastructure is located.

“A 5G radio was connected to the camera to wirelessly provide the room with 24/7 video,” Spencer said.

In another separate demonstration of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the Department of Defense used AT&T’s 5G network to connect a supplier’s cloud environment to a system on a camera-enabled Module (SoM) for rapid scenario-based customization. SoM is optimized for industrial and supply chain environments to run shelf inventory analysis, people and objects detection, and loss prevention, among other uses.

During the demonstration, a pre-trained model was created to demonstrate the real-time recognition and classification of PVC “curves” of varying degrees that were placed on a moving conveyor belt. The camera was trained to recognize different objects and updated the database with the type and number of parts recognized The solution also collects metrics and [key performance indicators] and displays it on the dashboard for monitoring and managing operations,” Spencer explained.

“Another key outcome of the event was the presentation of an operational use case for 5G-enabled zero-trust architecture, a strategic approach to cybersecurity that permanently eliminates implicit and valid trust for every stage of digital interactions,” he added.

In the future, other experiments and tests will be conducted in line with the various priorities of the Department of Defense.

Spencer also noted that this latest display solution isn’t limited to warehouse walls at Naval Base Coronado.

“We expect this project to provide seamless connectivity enabling end-to-end tracking of marine hardware across supply chain pathways. We also have the expertise to expand this capability internationally.”