...Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to demonstrate an open architecture system that enables plug-and-play navigation under the All Source Positioning and Navigation (ASPN) program. The ASPN program seeks to enable low-cost, robust and seamless integration of navigation sensors. Northrop Grumman is leveraging its scalable node architecture to provide a reconfigurable plug-and-play system that will accommodate any combination of a large and rapidly expanding array of sensors and measurements as they become available from different vendors or as the mission requires.

Under an 18-month contract, Northrop Grumman will demonstrate the scalability of its open architecture by implementing it into Android-based hand-held devices such as mobile phones. The architecture is scalable across navigation systems—from low-cost personal devices to high-end aircraft navigators—and will significantly reduce integration costs. The ASPN architecture was developed to deliver a product that aligns with open, industry-accepted standards and interfaces, and maximizes use of commercial off-the-shelf software products to ensure openness of the architecture and to protect against obsolescence.