Improving Military Information Technology Through Common Conceptual Models

Transcription

1 Improving Military Information Technology Through Common Conceptual Models Andreas Tolk, Ph.D. Virginia Modeling Analysis and Simulation Center Old Dominion University

2 Presentation Outline Common Conceptual Models 2 Models as the Basis for Interoperability Why to use Models? Technical Support for Model Driven Interoperability Model Driven Architecture (MDA) Web Services Applications for the Warfighter Global Information Grid

3 Common Conceptual Models 3 Models as the Basis for Interoperability Why to use Models?

4 Common Operational Models Common Conceptual Models 4 Models help to understand the key mechanisms of an operation Models act as the basis for IT supporting the process Models can be used to improve the current structure and operation Models show the structure of innovated solutions Models can serve as the basis to evaluate new ideas (in a collaborative manner) Models facilitate the identification of potential reuse

5 Common Conceptual Models 5 That s fine, but why to use models? The Use of Models to get a common Understanding of the Operation (planned, observed, executed, ) is mandatory to align the processes There is no technical solution for an organizational communication problem in the cognitive domain

6 Constraints for a Language for Conceptual Models Common Conceptual Models 6 There is no standardized optimal solution Application specific solutions are always best for the application Optimal solutions are application centric and do not support the necessary information exchange Common Exchange/Reference Models Common Domain Overarching Ontology Standard is needed for agile information exchange, i.e., goes for beyond data exchange Data Information Knowledge Awareness Behavior Representation

7 Potential Solutions Common Conceptual Models 7 Simulation Specifications Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) Base Object Model (BOM) Extensible Markup Language (XML) XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) Simulation Reference Markup Language (SRML) Unified Modeling Language (UML) Lingua Franca for Computer Science Adopted for various domains

8 Common Conceptual Models 8 Looking for the Common Language Proposal: Unified Modeling Language (UML) Standardized by the Object Management Group (OMG) Developed for Requirement driven Software Engineering (Use Cases) Used in a variety of domains Management consulting Business analysis Software engineering (since 1997 the de facto standard) Supports other Military Frameworks U.S. DoD C4ISR Architecture Framework NATO C3 Systems Architecture Framework

9 Common Conceptual Models 9 Technical Support for Model Driven Interoperability Model Driven Architecture (MDA)

10 Common Conceptual Models 10 UML and the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) 2003 Tolk/ 2003 VMASC OMG EXPO #300

11 Applying the MDA Common Conceptual Models 11 Develop a Platform Independent Model (PIM) of the application Convert the PIM from general application to a Platform Specific Model (PSM) Derive the Source Code from the PSM All Transformation Processes can be supported by CASE software tools (Computer Assisted Software Engineering/Reengineering) Reverse Engineering from PSM to PIM is possible

12 Common Repository MOF Pervasive Service Model UML Platform Specific Model CORBA UML Common Platform Conceptual Models Domain 12 Independent Facility Model Model UML UML Platform Specific Model EJB UML Tool generated Source Code C++ Source Code JAVA Compile and Assemble Application Application

13 Common Conceptual Models 13 Technical Support for Model Driven Interoperability Web Services

14 Web-Services for M&S Common Conceptual Models 14 What are Web-Services Discrete web-based applications that interact dynamically with other web-services Necessary sub-functions of web-services Functionality self-description of the service Publishing of service descriptions Locating the service with the required functionality Requesting the required data to initiate the service Establishing the data exchange, including delivering the results

15 Common Conceptual Models 15 Applications for the Warfighter Global Information Grid

16 Common Conceptual Models 16

17 Common Conceptual Models 17 Common Conceptual Models for the GIG Common Models needed to conduct the same Operation Joint Combined Inter-Agency Common Models for the Communities of Interest (COI) needed Technical Interoperability Usability of COI Services (Composability) Technical Commercial Solutions are applicable UML MDA Web Services GIG Services

18 Common Conceptual Models 18 Summary

19 Common Conceptual Models 19 Summary Conceptual Models must be the Basis for Interoperability Meaningful Interoperability on the Technical Level requires Composability of the Conceptual Models Behavior Representation is mandatory Data Exchange Standards are necessary, but not sufficient Integration of M&S Functionality into the Global Information Grid will lead to the next Order-of-Magnitude Increase in Command and Control Capability A Picture says more than 1,000 words (COP), but an executable Simulation says more than 1,000 Pictures

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