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SOAP-Based Integration Services - SOAPi ServicesTM
During a Phase I SBIR project for the Missile Defense Agency
(MDA), entitled “Large Scale Integration of Distributed Systems Exposed as
SOAP-Based Web Services,” Daniel H. Wagner Associates has designed a
real-time architecture to support Global Reachback demonstrations by the
Wide Bandwidth Technology (WBT) program at the US Army Space and Missile
Defense Command (USASMDC) in
Huntsville,
AL. Based on our research during Phase
I, we received a Phase II award, which will begin during the
November-December time frame.
The goal of Global Reachback is to demonstrate WBT’s ability
to provide real-time missile test data from the Reagan Test Site (RTS) at
Kwajalein Atoll,
Marshall Islands, to the Missile
Defense Data Center (MDDC) in
Huntsville,
AL, over a high-bandwidth satellite
communication network. Our support to WBT during these demonstrations will
include translating raw sensor and telemetry data into domain-specific
eXtensible Markup Language (XML), real-time management of the XML data
(including archival to existing data management assets), and integration of
the data with systems anywhere in the world that are currently or are soon
to be available for use by the missile defense community.
During Phase I, we demonstrated the following using
domain-specific software agents:
1)
automated translation of a real-time data stream (i.e. simulated radar data)
into XML,
2)
automated dissemination of that XML data across a local area network (LAN)
using Web Services,
3)
automated integration of the simulated radar data with a real-time scenario
running in a COTS simulation tool, and
4)
automated update of a COTS collaboration tool with imagery and video from
the simulation.
The COTS systems that we integrated during Phase I are the
Satellite Tool Kit (STK) and the Collaborative Unified Engineering
Environment (CUE). The following sections give more details on our
agent-based integration work during Phase I.
Agent-Based
Integration with the Satellite Tool Kit (STK)
STK, developed by Analytical Graphics, Inc., is a robust,
widely used program for simulation and visualization of space and missile
operations. Figure 1 shows an example STK missile test scenario, including
the radar systems used, the missile’s 3D ballistic trajectory, and a 2D
picture of the missile’s flight path. By incorporating real-time
(simulated) radar data into the simulation, we were able to visualize each
radar system’s tracking capabilities, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.
Figure 1. STK Missile Test Scenario
Figure 2. Agent-Based Integration
(Simulated Radar Data Integrated with the STK Scenario)
Figure 3. Close-Up of the Real-Time View
Agent-Based
Integration with the Collaborative Unified Engineering Environment (CUE)
The CUE, developed by Science Applications International
Corporation (SAIC) and now maintained by Miltech, Inc., is a Web-based
collaboration environment designed to provide missile defense scientists and
engineers with the test and engineering data they need no matter where they
reside geographically, as long as they have access to MDAnet. Since we did
not have ready access to MDAnet during Phase I development, we made use of
the CUE’s underlying collaboration software, SiteScape Forum, to demonstrate
agent-based update of the collaborative workspace. Figure 4 shows the CUE
workspace for the missile test scenario, including the Web File System used
to share images among geographically distributed MDAnet nodes.
 
Figure 4.
CUE Workspace, Including Web File System for Sharing Data and Imagery
During Phase II of the WBT project, we will support Global
Reachback demonstrations by providing Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
end-users with customized data streams, visualizations, data fusion, and
systems integration using a distributed suite of software agents and Web
Services.
We have also been awarded a Phase I SBIR contract to extend
the SOAPi Services™ architecture for the real-time management of target
discrimination data. Building on the research performed during the WBT
Phase I, we are developing specialized XML Schemas, translation agents, and
Web Services to support GMD target discrimination. During Phase II, if
awarded, we will implement GMD-specific agents and Web Services, as well as
advanced data fusion algorithms, to provide a flexible, resilient
architecture for target discrimination during real-time missile tests.
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