Title: Military System Interoperability: Opportunities and Challenges for Simulation Interoperability Dr' J
1Military System InteroperabilityOpportunities
and Challenges forSimulation InteroperabilityD
r. Judith S. Dahmann
Scientific AdvisorDirector of InteroperabilityAc
quisition, Technology and LogisticsUS Department
of Defense
Senior Principal ScientistThe MITRE
Corporation703.883.1636jdahmann_at_mitre.org
2What is Interoperability?
Interoperability is defined in Joint Chiefs of
Staff (JCS) Pub 1-02 1. The ability of systems,
units or forces to provide services to and accept
services from other systems, units, or forces and
to use the services exchanged to enable them to
operate effectively together. 2. The condition
achieved among communications-electronics systems
or items of communications-electronics equipment
when information or services can be exchanged
directly and satisfactorily between them and/or
their users. The degree of interoperability
should be defined when referring to specific
cases.
3Increased Organizational Emphasis on
Interoperability
- OSD/ATL Director of Interoperability
- CINC Interoperability Program Offices (CIPOs)
- Interoperability Joint Warfighting Capabilities
Assessment (I-JWCA) - Military Communicatioons Electronics Board (MCEB)
- ASD/C3I DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO)
4Growing Interoperability Policy
- CJCSI 3170.01A Requirements Generation System.
- This instruction requires all requirements
documentation - regardless of acquisition
category level to conform with joint policy,
technical architecture integrity, and
interoperability standards. In addition, Joint
Forces Command is designated as the JCS
Chairmans advocate for joint warfare
interoperability, and thus will play a critical
review role in all systems requirements. - CJCSI 6212.01B, Compatibility, Interoperability,
Integration and C4 Supportability Certification
of Command, Control, Communications, Computers
and Weapon Systems. - In final drafting, this instruction specifies
three interoperability certifications to be
accomplished for every C4I system and weapons
system that interfaces with a C4I system.
Additionally, it provides the process and format
for developing interoperability Key Performance
Parameters and Information Exchange Requirements
for system requirements documentation.
5Interoperability Issues Need to be Addressed
Across the System Life Cycle
Phase 0
Phase I
Phase II
Phase III
Determination of Mission Need
Concept Exploration
Program Definition Risk Reduction
Engineering Manufacturing Development
Production, Fielding/ Deployment Operational
Support
Operational Support
Demilitarization Disposal
Science Technology
6Challenges for the Simulation Community
- How well is simulation community prepared to
support the acquisition community with system of
systems (SoS) interoperability (IO)? - Experience base of the distributed simulation
community offers a good conceptual foundation - However, there are some important challenges to
address..
7Ready or Not, Here I Come
- Need to address IO at key stages is known well in
advance - Important to have simulation support environment
available for use when and where it is needed,
and at an affordable cost - Waiting until the question is asked to initiate
the development of the simulation support
environment is too late
8Complexity Conundrum
- System of systems (SoS) Interoperability (IO) is
a complex matter - Simulation support environments are expected to
help simplify the situation, not complicate it
further - Unfortunately, simulations of systems of
systems are naturally complex in and of
themselves - Challenge is for the simulation community to
develop the means to address the
simulation-specific complexities without
burdening the acquisition users
9Data, Data, Data
- As in almost all simulation application areas,
data is a key issue for SoS interoperability - Large investment is being made by
interoperability community in data and data
support environments - Information Exchange Requirements (IERS)
- Data models (CADM, ACCIS)
- Data specification repositories (JCAPS, SHADE XML
repository) - Critical that simulation community actively,
participate if the data needed for simulation is
to be provisioned for in the process
10Is It Real or Is It.?
- As systems move through the life cycle and when
IO issues involve interactions with existing
systems, the systems themselves (live, HWIL,
system software) can be incorporated into the
simulation environment - Is HWIL a simulation? Is operational software on
a lab-based hardware platform a simulation? - Mixes of real and simulated, become the norm in
simulation environments supporting system of
system (SoS) interoperability (IO)
11If Its Not Right, We Will Know Soon Enough
- Simulation is largely used in SoS
interoperability to address issues for subsequent
development phases - As developments move to the next stage (system
development, deployment), the simulated
activities are replaced with live system
activities, and preceding simulation results are
put to the test.. - This makes VVA more than a policy-required
activity, since invalid simulation results will
directly affect the acquisition
12Where do we go from here?
- Given
- Interoperability will be assessed as projected
- Interoperability is not a single system
phenomena, to test interoperability of one
system, you need some representation of the other
systems in the SoS - The costs of having large numbers of replicas of
systems for use by each program are prohibitive - Suggests
- simulation is critical
- shared SoS simulation environments can serve
multiple programs in a mission area -
13System of System Boxset Concept
- Federations of simulations, and supporting tools
and data to represent the system of systems in a
mission area - outfitted with scenarios and data bases,
developed and maintained overtime - would include increasingly real components
(operational sw, HWIL) for different uses - Used by government and industry to identify
needed capabilities, test new concepts and their
effects on other systems, evaluate impacts of
proposed system upgrades on other systems. the
full range of interoperability issues across the
life cycle
14Virtual Strike Warfare Environment (VSWE)
- JSF has employed a Boxed Set approach to use of
simulation within the JSF acquisition - A common set of simulations and support tools was
developed, managed and evolved as an integral
part of the acquisition process beginning with
requirements - VSWE 6 was tested this summer to support EMD
- The idea proposed here would be to use an
environment such as VSWE and extend it to apply
to strike warfare more generally, beyond a single
acquisition program
15Why a Common Use Boxset?
- Shared resource reduces system costs and provides
a means to address SoS complexity - Provides common reference environment for
collaborative assessment of capability (rather
than system) needs and for assessing options
for provide the needed capability - Provides the basis for SoS integration and
interoperability testing - Ultimately a tool for SoS engineering and Mission
Capabilities Management
16Challenge for Boxset Concept
- Boxsets would be shared resources which would
need funding, management, etc - Current organization of resources, acquisitions,
etc do not lend themselves to support of shared
infrastructure - although in this case, current policy
requirements lead each program to do this on
their own, more costly and impractical given the
interdependence on other systems - Move to create joint mission areas and to
establish common testing environments may provide
mechanism for the boxset approach
17Summary
- Interoperability (IO) is being recognized as
important both by policy and organization - Current requirements to address IO throughout the
lifecycle - Simulation is a key enabler in this process, but
must address some important challenges to be
effective - A boxset approach is proposed to creating and
applying SoS environments across mission areas ro
support IO throughout the SoS life cycle