July 25, 2008 – ASTi completed the installation of a large-scale ASTi Synapse 4 communications system into the Battle Simulation Center (BSC) at Fort Hood, TX. The new system, based on ASTi's Telestra 4 ACE technology, provides the Army with the capability to route voice traffic between live combat net radios operating in the maneuver field and soldiers and support staff operating ASTi virtual radio workstations installed across the BSC facility. The ASTi communications system is also capable of intercommunicating with wide area networked training sites, in support of distributed military exercises.

The ASTi system comprises a series of five ASTi Synapse 4 Radio-Network bridges and Synapse Workstations connected to the BSC's IP network infrastructure. Ft. Hood's ASTi system provides the capability to link as many as sixteen live SINCGARS frequency-hopping radio channels to virtual network channels, allowing intercommunication with 64 battlestaff operators. These operator locations are dispersed throughout the BSC, which encompasses several buildings. ASTi Synapse provides modular, all-Ethernet installation of hardware components, which is critical for the sprawling BSC installation. The ASTi system plugged into the customer's existing network infrastructure without the need to install additional copper or fiber optic cabling. The customer can completely re-configure the ASTi hardware components using standard VLAN technology.

Army system administrators use software utilities provided by the ASTi ACE Studio Development system to automate the generation and distribution of virtual communications (comm) plans. The Studio comm plans are software files that define the simulated radio configuration for a training event. A typical BSC comm plan can be configured to provide dozens of operational FM combat nets, as well as intercom channels for battlestaff point-to-point or workgroup conference communications. Multiple ACE Studio comm plans can be archived and reused with the click of a mouse.

ASTi's web-based Remote Management System (RMS) is bundled inside every Synapse system, allowing the BSC site staff to monitor and manage their ASTi hardware and software resources on the network. RMS is accessible with a standard PC web browser from anywhere on the network.

ASTi provided a complete customer support package to the Army, including: pre-fielding site survey, on-site installation and training courses for system administrators and battlestaff and a technical support contract for ongoing helpdesk assistance.

ASTi has been shipping Synapse live-to-virtual communications systems since 1999.

About the Ft Hood BSC:

The Fort Hood Battle Simulation Center provides simulation and training support for the Army's III Corps Battle Command Training Branch (BCTB). Training requirements include: soldier-level, collective, staff and leader battle command exercises. Fort Hood is the digital training hub which supports spoke facilities at: Fort Sill, Fort Riley, Fort Carson and Fort Knox (future, planned), all of which are existing ASTi communication sites.