Net-Centricity as an Enabling Technology for Intelligent Systems Research
David M. Rodvold, Ben Abernathy, Glenn Dougherty, Paul Zetocha · AIAA Infotech@Aerospace Conference · 2009
For many years, transitioning software from the research and development (R&D) community into operational systems has been challenging. Many of the issues are related to the differences between the research and operational infrastructures used. Historically, many R&D systems have implemented ad-hoc interfaces between components, using a variety of techniques that were frequently based on ease of use or programmer familiarity. At the other end of the spectrum, many large deployed operational systems have closed architectures with limited accessibility and proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs). These systems are often referred to as “stove-piped,” due to their inability to integrate with other systems. There are often detailed requirements associated with the procurement of these systems that drive them toward these closed architectures. With the emergence of service-oriented architectures (SOAs), a set of technologies is now available that provides scalability, robustness, and standardized interoperability. Recently, the US Department of Defense (DoD) adopted SOAs and XML data representation as the basis of its net-centric push, which is encapsulated in its Net-Ready Key Performance Parameter (KPP). DoD systems integrating with its Global Information Grid (GIG) must satisfy this KPP. This paper describes the application of an aerospace decision support system within a SOA.