Multi-Access Cellular Extension

Overview
The Multi-Access Cellular Extension (MACE) is a project of the U.S. Army to capture innovation in the commercial wireless marketplace because the "commercial marketplace continuously introduces new technologies, replete with greater capabilities and faster data rates, which could prove beneficial to the military." The vision for MACE is intended to unify commercial wireless technologies with military needs.

The developers of MACE contend that it will support cellular communications over smart phones as well as links through cellular base stations to tactical systems. In demonstration pilots, mesh networking is to be used to test seamless operation in WiFi/cellular environments even when a cellular base station is not available.

Source

 * A National Plan for Migrating to IP-Enabled 9-1-1 Systems, at 22.