Service and Agent Oriented Framework for
      Information Fusion and Knowledge Management

Dr. Ray Emami,
Global InfoTek, Inc.

May 19, 2009 at 10:30

ABSTRACT

Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration 2008 (CWID 08), Interoperability Trial (IT) #5.64 "Trusted Enterprise Service Bus" (T-ESB) demonstrates a potentially quantum improvement in the government procurement model for information systems. Joint Interoperability Command (JITC) sponsored the World Wide Consortium for the Grid (W2COG) Institute (WI) to conduct IT 5.64. WI studied the requirements of the Multi-National Information Sharing (MNIS) program to distill the following objectives: In today's military, mountains of data are generated, absorbed, and filed from different sources and presented in diverse ways such as text, audio, video, and images. Network Centric (NC) capabilities turbo-charge data collection and information exchanges result into a "flood" of battlefield data. This data can't be processed fast enough by warfighters to find critical threats and events. As a result, today's network-enabled operations must be augmented with tools to quickly parse vast amounts of data and deliver alerts and critical mission relevant data to key personnel in a clear, concise fashion.

A solution to mining these mountains of data can be achieved by augmenting C4ISR systems and warfighters with technology appliques called Software Agents. Software Agents (SA) work like, and for, humans 24/7, but much faster than is humanly possible. Groups of these Software Agents are the key to unearthing enemy threats with unprecedented timeliness. This timely identification of the enemy is paramount to swift threat neutralization.

Global InfoTek, Inc. has developed MIATA, a service and agent-based system (see Figure 1), and a force multip'ier, that enables real-time threat and anomaly detection. MIATA's uses "agent-aided" analysis of rapidly changing information that would normally overwhelm users, to provide decision makers with situational awareness. By reducing the workload associated with monitoring massive amounts of rapidly changing data and augmenting the Common Operational Picture (COP), MIATA enables warfighters to focus their attention on critical mission elements.system platforms, COTS, Government off the Shelf (GOTS), legacy, and open source applications. This integration enables warfighters to monitor diverse information sources regardless of their origin and the type of data. MIATA is an Agent-based architecture that is built on the Intelligent Service Layer (ISL) SOA fabric, Composable Heterogeneous Agents for Intelligent Notification (CHAIN) "Pluggable" Framework, and Verona Collaborative Multi- media Knowledge Management Tool. Figure 1 - MIATA Software Agents, on behalf of Users, continuously Monitor and Analyze mountains of battlefield data, and only Notify when a Critical Event is detected.

BIO

Dr. Ray Emami is the CEO and Chief Scientist of Global InfoTek, Inc. (GITI). Dr. Emami leads an organization that provides a full range of SOA solutions and Net-centric services to DOD and Intelligence customers. Dr. Emami's focus has been on the architecture and implementation of secure intelligent systems using service-orientation, software agents, and cloud computing technologies. He has provided the vision and leadership for a number of projects ranging from: delivery of information to tactical users, monitoring massive amount of rapidly changing information to fuse and identify anomalies or threats, and large-scale automated distributed testing.

Prior to forming GITI in 1996, Dr. Emami was a Principal Scientist at the MITRE Corporation where he conceived and developed several state-of-the-art C4I systems over 17 years. Dr. Emami was also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University teaching both graduate and undergraduate courses.

Simulation-based Command and Control Applications in
      a Service-Oriented, Cloud Computing Environment

John Daly,
Booz Allen Hamilton

May 19, 2009 at 10:30

ABSTRACT

Modeling and Simulation (M&S) technologies have matured suitably to provide real time tactical utility to warfighting Command and Control computer (C2) system users, but C2 systems adoption of M&S in their native applications has been slow for design, acceptance, computing and procurement/development reasons. While extensive work has been done with simulation based planning, execution monitoring, logistics, visualization, data fusion, intelligence analysis, training, and hazard prediction these simulation-based applications generally have at best been linked to C2 systems, and usually exist as standalone systems. This separation from active C2 databases and networks has kept them out of the tactical, time sensitive environment. Another consideration is the lack of locally available computing power in the astute tactical environment. The Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) in the U. S. Global Information Grid (GIG) and can breathe new life into these C2 oriented simulation-based applications as they are re-configured as service- based C2 Community of Interest (COI) enterprise services. These SOA-based C2 capabilities would support common C2 tasks in C2 COI sub-domains such as: planning, hazard analysis, execution monitoring, course of action analysis, visualization and training. The enablement of more sophisticated C2 services and applications by a cloud-computing local tactical architecture is also discussed. This paper examines the command and control process, C2 system design and use, these classes of simulation-based applications, and details the process of configuring of that simulation-based tactical mission capability into a GIG C2 service, integrated via common SOA enterprise services and infrastructure to the warfighter C2 user. Some lessons learned from previous embedded and federated simulations with C2 will be discussed, as well as commercial analogs of these proposed GIG capabilities in operation on the Internet today.

BIO

Considerations for SOA Versioning

Dr. Kenneth Laskey,
MITRE Corporation

May 19, 2009 at 10:30

ABSTRACT

Service oriented architecture is a paradigm for bringing together needs and capabilities, where SOA services provide an effective means of connecting consumers and the means to realize desired real world effects. The resources accessed as part of SOA interactions are independently owned and evolved but must be unambiguously identifiable. In cases where the resources are changing, the consumer must be able to evaluate how those changes affect appropriateness for use, whether those are changes to the underlying capabilities, the service access, or the service description. This paper presents early discussions on versioning in the context of a SOA reference architecture.

BIO

Dr. Kenneth Laskey is currently developing and applying service oriented architecture (SOA) as the organizing paradigm for projects needing to access distributed capabilities, where the access often involves crossing ownership boundaries. His background in related areas goes back to his PhD work in computational fluid dynamics where Dr. Laskey gained practical experience in remote computing and had opportunities to be an early user of Internet technology. This led to interest in the evolving World Wide Web and ways to use the technology to improve information integration. A project for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) introduced Dr. Laskey to the use of ontologies to describe domains and facilitate information organization and retrieval. At MITRE, Dr. Laskey has applied this expertise to the application of service oriented architecture for accessing distributed resources to meet the needs of many sponsor projects. Dr. Laskey is also actively involved in Web, Web Services, and SOA standards through his role as an elected member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Advisory Board and as co-editor for the OASIS SOA Reference Model and the SOA Reference Architecture.

Agility in C2 Systems: the Need and the Promise

Dr. David Alberts,
ASD (NII)

May 19, 2009 at 13:00

ABSTRACT

BIO

Dr. David Alberts,

CWID08 Demonstrates Rapid Evolutionary
    Acquisition Model of Coalition C2

Chris Gunderson,
Naval Postgraduate School

David Minton
Raytheon, W2COG

May 19, 2009 at 13:45

ABSTRACT

• "Flatten" coalition networks
• Enable data and service "discovery" via semantic interoperability
• Demonstrate rapid, adaptive, evolutionary acquisition compliant with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and based on commercial best practice.

The general premise is that the government should "buy down" as much implementation risk as possible of its basic information processing requirement with true COTS capability. An issue is that government requirements, especially military requirements, are typically more stringent than commercial requirements. Security and interoperability are especially critical. True COTS offerings rarely address the total government requirement. Accordingly, the IT 5.64 hypothesis is as follows:

If the government (1) continuously develops and furnishes critical raw technology to the industrial base, and (2) simply publishes its use cases, objective selection criteria, and COTS competitive procurement budget in lieu of formal Engineering Development Model (EDM)-type solicitations;

Then continuing industrial competition will generate pure COTS offerings that are ever more aligned with government requirements.

To frame IT 5.64, the WI designed a government procurement consistent with this hypothesis. The IT 5.64 prototype capability is designed as a vendor team response to that hypothetical procurement. Hypothetical source selection depends on actual demonstration of value added in realistic mission simulations. WI used a combined Coalition Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) and Maritime Interdiction Operation (MIO) mission thread as the basis of the solicitation. Stated government priorities are rapid deployment, demonstrated utility, continuous improvement, re-usability within and across program boundaries, and Information Assurance (IA). In this solicitation, "IA" refers to two broad objectives. One objective is assured methodology for managing risk with respect to the need-to-share vs. the need-to-protect information. The other is assured data strategy for both discovering valued information, and preventing information overload. The WI vendor team response was a prototype web service stack designed to (1) enhance "Information Processing Efficiency" (IPE), and (2) execute dynamic need-to-protect vs. need-to-share security policy. The prototype has a "Trusted-Enterprise Service Bus" at the server end, and a Trusted Command and Control (C2) Web Portal (TC2P) on the service consumer end. The web service stack includes: Protection Level 4 (PL4) government-furnished security services; Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sensor services; and Intelligent Agents that provide a "Valued Information at the Right Time" (VIRT) service. The VIRT service issues a browser pop up message when geospatially enabled software agents detect pre-defined critical conditions of interest (CCI). Analysis of collaborative interaction among eight multi-national C2 watch standers shows an IPE for the T-ESB/TC2P that is at least 60%, and as much as two orders of magnitude more, efficient than the baseline capability. Analysis also suggests 36-69% value added through "need-to-share" services. The WI team used this analysis to craft a notional vendor response to the hypothetical solicitation. Vendor claims in the solicitation response are objective and supported by runtime demonstration and analysis. The hypothetical bid includes life cycle improvement, guaranteed software currency, continuing customer outreach, streamlined C&A, and objectively defined "open" architecture. The methodology allows government to transform its myriad technology demonstration venues collectively into a competitive marketplace of such capability. The demonstration venues need not be limited to scheduled, formal, large scale events. Any properly configured and certified laboratory can participate. JITC, supported by the W2COG Institute, can assist interested participants perform the requisite configuration, and develop the necessary FAR-compliant documentation.

BIO

Chris Gunderson is Naval Postgraduate School Associate Research Professor of Information Science. His research interest is effective information exchange across a network of experts. He is detailed to the National Capital Region to support Joint Interoperability Command efforts to create a government/ industry partnership for adaptive collaborative development and validation and verification of netcentric capability modules.

Gunderson retired from the US Navy as a Captain in October 2004 following 27 years' service as a Navy Oceanographer.

His last assignment in the Navy was Commanding Officer of Fleet Numerical Oceanographic & Meteorological Center, a high-performance computing center in Monterey, Calif.

David Minton As Chief Engineer, David Minton is responsible for overall systems engineering and integration for the World Wide Consortium for the Grid (W2COG). With more than 20 years' experience in advanced systems engineering and management of major development and acquisition programs, Minton's experience includes electronic warfare; database design and mining; anti-submarine warfare; and precise engineering and management of nuclear reactor systems. In addition to his role with W2COG, Minton serves as the Chief Science Officer for Planning Systems, Inc, where he is responsible for the high assurance software and systems engineering.

Prior to his work with Planning Systems, Inc., Minton worked for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command for 10 years, where he was a Chief Engineer in the C4ISR Directorate and had overall technical and management responsibilities ranged across a variety of disciplines, contracts, labs and vendors. Minton also worked as head of the Software Engineering Division of the Naval Electronic Systems Command in Vallejo, Calif. and served on the faculty of the physics department at California State University. Minton served in the U.S Army in the Republic of Vietnam and Cambodia from 1969 until 1971.

Minton earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics and Philosophy and a Master of Arts degree in Psychology and Philosophy from California State University and an Associate of Arts degree in Math and Physical Science from American River College.

Transformational Initiatives in C4I
Geospatial Information Technology in Command & Control

Brian Lehman
ESRI
Account Manager, Defense

May 19, 2009 at 15:00

ABSTRACT

At present, military commanders are aggressively fielding capabilities to support current operations while simultaneously developing future battle command capabilities. Significant investment has been made to modernize the materiel, information technology and doctrine used to equip, train and deploy the current force. A manifestation of these advances can be seen in the way information technologies are being designed and developed in conformance with standards and to operate in a common environment. The C4ISR, M&S and Geospatial Information domains make up three operational stovepipes that directly impact the effectiveness and efficiency of Battle Command processes. Efforts are underway to further integrate these processes through the use of a common foundation based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

For such an effort to be successful, geospatial information must conform to doctrine and be directly applicable to operations. The Army Geospatial Center (AGC) has focused on this challenge and developed processes that generate Tactical Spatial Objects (TSO) that can be referenced in both C2 and M&S systems. In order for these products to become fully integrated with battle command, they must be linked to a common C2 data model. With the evolution of the Command and Control Information Exchange Data Model(C2IEDM) and the Joint Consultation, Command and Control Information Exchange Data Model (JC3IEDM), such standards now exist to support a direct link between core C2 information and supporting geospatial products. By directly integrating geospatial intelligence within the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP), commanders are provided with a greater understanding of the operating environment.

Building a foundation based upon standards, Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) software and a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach, delivers a component-based capability that can be tailored to meet the needs of every echelon of the force. These capabilities can be fielded quickly and greatly increase the quality, timeliness and efficiency of military operations.

BIO

Brian Lehman currently serves as an account manager with ESRI in Vienna, Virginia. Mr. Lehman has ten years of experience as a consultant assisting the US military with the implementation of Geographic Information Systems. Mr. Lehman, as a member of the ESRI Defense Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Team, currently provides management oversight to all software sales and development engagements with the Army Geospatial Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

BML Enabled Information Exchange Framework in
      SES Ontology for C2

Hojun Lee and Dr. Bernard Zeigler
University of Arizona

May 19, 2009 at 15:00

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the Information Exchange Framework (IEF) concept of distributed sensor networks in Network-centric environment. It is used to build up integrative battlefield pictures through the Battle Management Language (BML) and System Entity Structure (SES) ontology for C2 systems. The C2 process requires not only more precise data but it also needs broader area information to assess the current situation in sound manner. Therefore, integration of multi-sensor data such as radars enables a C2 system to see earlier and act faster. The SES is an ontology framework which can facilitate information exchange in a network environment with assistance of XML. BML, as an expression of a pragmatic framework, is an enabler to exchange information in the perspective of SES framework since it can describe the information consumers' need in an unambiguous way. We explain the idea of service-oriented sensor network architecture for information exchange in the SES ontology via BML and demonstrate a pruning process of SES for a proof-of-concept example.

BIO

Hojun Lee

Dr. Bernard Zeigler is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona, Tucson and Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Modeling and Simulation. He is internationally known for his 1976 foundational text Theory of Modeling and Simulation, recently revised for a second edition (Academic Press, 2000), He has published numerous books and research publications on the Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) formalism.

Zeigler is currently heading a project for the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) where he is developing DEVS-methodology approaches for testing mission thread end-to-end interoperability and combat effectiveness of Defense Department acquisitions and transitions to the Global Information Grid with its Service Oriented Architecture (GIG/SOA).

Net-Centric Adapter for Legacy Systems

Alan Thomas
Naval Surface Warfare Center

May 19, 2009 at 15:00

ABSTRACT

The Net-Centric Adapter for Legacy Systems (NCALS) is a software technology that makes legacy system data and services available in near real-time to the Global Information Grid (GIG). The intent of NCALS is to lower the cost and risk, and to decrease the time required for legacy systems to comply with DoD net-centric technical standards.

Many different systems could use a common, configurable NCALS software component to comply with these standards. The benefit to the warfighter is improved interoperability with joint and coalition forces.

NCALS enables legacy systems to move to a Service- Oriented Architecture (SOA) compatible with the GIG without requiring a costly and risky re-architecture of their legacy software. In addition, NCALS enables mission critical systems such as weapon systems to segregate their real-time, mission critical software from enterprise integration software. This maintains the safety and security required by such systems, while accommodating rapid changes in Internet-based, enterprise technologies.

This paper discusses the legacy system challenge and describe a technology prototype developed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren to realize the NCALS concept. The prototype works automatically, behind the scenes, to expose legacy data to the GIG and to make GIG data available to legacy systems.

BIO

Alan Thomas is a Senior Scientist in the Strategic and Strike Systems Department at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Virginia and a Master's degree in Systems Engineering from George Mason University.

Alan has over 23 years of experience in many aspects of Navy system engineering, including: concept exploration, technology assessment, requirements engineering, system architecting, modeling and simulation, system development, testing, fielding and operational support. Since 2005, he has led a variety of applied research and prototype development efforts in the area of advanced information technologies. His research interests include technologies for legacy software modernization, the integration of system modeling methodologies, Semantic Web technologies, agent-based modeling, and statistical analysis.

Thomas Turner

Scott Soderlund

Rapid Synthesis of Multi-Model Simulations
      for Computational Experiments in C2

H. Neema, H. Nine, G. Hemingway, J. Sztipanovits, and G. Karsai
Vanderbilt University

May 19, 2009 at 15:00

ABSTRACT

Abstract-Virtual evaluation of complex command and control concepts demands the use of heterogeneous simulation environments. Development challenges include how to integrate multiple simulation platforms with varying semantics and how to integrate simulation models and the complex interactions between them. While existing simulation frameworks may provide many of the required services needed to coordinate among multiple simulation platforms, they lack an overarching integration approach that connects and relates the semantics of heterogeneous domain models and their interactions. This paper outlines some of the challenges encountered in developing a command and control simulation environment and discusses our use of the GME meta-modeling tool-suite to create a model-based integration approach that allows for rapid synthesis of complex HLA-based simulation environments.

BIO

Himanshu Neema is a Senior Staff Engineer at Institute for Software Integrated Systems, at Vanderbilt University. His primary research interests include Modeling and Simulation, Rapid Synthesis of Command and Control (C2) Heterogeneous Simulations, Service-Oriented Architectures (SOAs) on Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs), Resource Allocation, Planning & Scheduling, Constraint Programming, and Solution Clusters.

He received his Bachelors in 1997 from the DAVV University in India, and his Masters degree in Computer Science from Vanderbilt University in 2008. Before coming to Vanderbilt University in 2002, he worked for over two years on Planning and Scheduling and Constraint Programming at Advanced Technology Group of Tata Infotech Ltd., India, and for one and half years on Automated Dublin Core Metadata Extraction at Intelligent Technology Pty. Ltd. in Australia. At Vanderbilt University, he has been working actively for the past seven years on a number of large-scale defense projects from agencies like DARPA, NASA, and AFOSR.

Dr. Harmon S. Nine achieved his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. He is currently employed at the Institute for Software Integrated Systems and Vanderbilt University as a Senior Staff Engineer. His current endeavors include automated code generation from models for wrapping the HLA simulation platform, as well as for the purposes of validation and verification of the generated code.

G. Hemingway is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at Vanderbilt University under the direction of his advisor, Janos Sztipanovits. His two primary research topics are the composition of heterogeneous distributed simulations and algorithms for GPU accelerated solid modeling.

Graham completed his undergraduate education at Vanderbilt as well, graduating with a joint B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics in 1999.Prior to his return to graduate school, Graham worked as a management consultant leading large-scale technical implementations for a diverse set of Fortune 100 companies.

Dr. Janos Sztipanovits is the E. Bronson Ingram Distinguished Professor of Engineering in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of Vanderbilt University. He is founding director of the Institute for Software Integrated Systems (ISIS). Between 1999 and 2001, he worked as program manager and deputy director of DARPA Information Technology Office. During the past two decades, Dr. Sztipanovits has conducted research on Model-Integrated Computing, structurally adaptive systems, and embedded software and systems.

Dr. Sztipanovits graduated from the Technical University of Budapest in 1970. He received the degree of “Candidate of Technical Sciences” from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1980, and the distinguished doctor degree (Golden Ring of the Republic) in 1982. He has published over 150 papers and he is the co-author of two books. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Dr. Gabor Karsai is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Vanderbilt University, and a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Software Integrated Systems. Dr. Kasai has over twenty-five years of experience in software engineering. He conducts research in the design and implementation of embedded systems, in programming tools for visual programming environments, in the theory and practice of model-integrated computing, and in resource management and scheduling systems.

Dr. Karsai received his BSc, MSc, and Dr. Techn. degrees from the Technical University of Budapest, in 1982, 1984 and 1988, respectively, and his PhD from Vanderbilt University in 1988. He has published over 100 papers, and he is the co-author of four patents. He has managed several large DARPA projects in the recent past: advanced scheduling and resource management algorithms that resulted in a technology being transitioned into maintenance scheduling applications, fault-adaptive control technology that is being transitioned into unmanned aerial vehicle programs, and model-based integration of embedded systems whose resulting tools are being used in embedded software development tool chains worldwide. He is a senior member of the IEEE.

Evaluation of High Resolution Imagery
      and Elevation Data

Walter Powell, Kathryn Laskey, Leonard Adelman,
Ryan Johnson, and Shiloh Dorgan
George Mason University C4I Center

Craig Klementowski, Andrew Goldstein, and Rick Yost
USA - VIECORE, FSD

Daniel Visone, and Ken Braswell
U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center

May 20, 2009 at 09:00

ABSTRACT

Typically, the development of tools and systems for the military is requirement driven; systems are developed to meet specified requirements and evaluated on compliance with those requirements. The real question we should ask about tools and systems in development is, "what benefit does the system provide to the warfighter?" The U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center (TEC) is sponsoring a series of rigorous experiments designed to answer this question and thereby help to focus its research and development efforts. The first experiment in this series, which was presented at the 12th ICCRTS, demonstrated the value of a Geospatial Decision Support Systems (GDSS), Battlespace Terrain Reasoning and Awareness - Battle Command (BTRA-BC), in a strictly terrain analysis scenario. This second experiment in the series, building upon the results of the first experiment, evaluated the value of BTRA-BC in a realistic planning environment with a scenario that requires more complex decision-making. This paper discusses the experimental design (presented at the 13th ICCRTS) and the preliminary results of this experiment.

BIO

Walter Powell

Kathryn Laskey

Leonard Adelman

Ryan Johnson

Shiloh Dorgan

Craig Klementowski

Andrew Goldstein

Rick Yost

Daniel Visone

Ken Braswell

Representing Geospatially Enabled Command
      and Control Information within the JC3IEDM

John Roberts
Atlantic Consulting Services

May 20, 2009 at 09:00

ABSTRACT

The transition to Commander-centric network-enabled Command and Control (C2) is well underway within the US Army and Department of Defense (DOD). The foundation of this approach is an information superiority-enabled concept of operations that describes the way U.S. forces organize and fight in the information age. The idea is to translate this information superiority into combat power by effectively linking friendly forces within the Battlespace, providing a much richer shared awareness of the situation, and enabling more rapid and effective decision making. In order to achieve this type of capability, reliable connectivity must be established among the various types of digitized C2 systems, sensor systems, communications systems, and communications networks. This, however, will only provide half of the required solution. Just as important as connectivity is to this concept is the ability of these systems to discover, consume, understand, and act upon this mission-relevant shared information. This requires that interoperability specifications and standards be established to facilitate shared information understanding among the services, their warfighter domains, and the plethora of disparate digitized systems and networks that constitute the current battlefield.

The U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center (TEC) located at Fort Belvoir, VA has been actively working in this problem area for several years, with a focus on the integration of geo-spatial analysis with Army planning. The purpose of this paper is describe work that involves bringing tailored, actionable geospatial information into the hands of the warfighter using the Joint Consultation, Command and Control Information Exchange Data Model (JC3IEDM). Section two provides background regarding the TEC work and the origins of the geo-spatial information products known as Tactical Spatial Objects (TSOs). Section three defines a TSO including a three tiered classification scheme. Section four identifies how TSO products are made available to the warfighter via the JC3IEDM. Section five describes the details of how a TSO is represented within the JC3IEDM. Section six presents summary and conclusions, and section seven identifies references.

BIO

John Roberts is a Project Manager for Atlantic Consulting Services (ACS), Inc. For the past ten years he has been technical lead on a number of projects involving interoperability between C4I systems and military modeling and simulation (M&S) systems. These efforts have focused on exchanging operational planning and geospatial information among C2 systems and simulation environments to facilitate the battle command process.

In addition, he has been involved in supporting the transition of various US Army CECOM simulation environments from DIS to the HLA. Prior to this he spent six years as a Lead Developer with the MITRE Corporation working in the areas of distributed simulation and advanced C2 decision support for military planning. Other technical experience includes work in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Expert System development, and customer service support. Mr. Roberts holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering (EE) from Widener University and a M.S. EE from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Toward Dynamic Application Protocols in
      Heterogeneous Distributed Computing Systems

Dennis Patrone and Bina Ramamurthy
University at Buffalo

May 20, 2009 at 10:30

ABSTRACT

n order to achieve the full transformational promise of Sea Power 21 and net-centric warfare, a highly efficient and adaptable service oriented architecture (SOA) is required. We propose an XML- based language to enable heterogeneous distributed systems to dynamically modify the application-layer network protocol in an SOA at runtime and without individual service-client agreements. We argue that an SOA that supports dynamic protocols can operate more efficiently and is more agile and spontaneous than an architecture based on standardized messaging such as Web Services. We provide an overview of the XML-based language called the Application Logic Markup Language (ALML) and our innovative approach to an SOA that supports multiple protocols in heterogeneous systems; ALML lays the foundation for a truly dynamic, interoperable, and adaptable SOA.

BIO

Dennis Patrone is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in computer science in the area of distributed computing at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, NY. He is also a full-time, senior professional staff member in the C4 and Decision Technologies Group of the Johns Hopkins University / Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) in Laurel, MD. Since joining JHU/APL in 1997, Mr. Patrone has been involved in a wide range of research projects utilizing various distributed system technologies. Mr. Patrone earned a M.S. in computer science from the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering (2000) and a B.S. in computer science from Saint Bonaventure University (1996).

Bina Ramamurthy received the B.E. (Honors) degree from Madras University, India, the M.S. degree from Wichita State University, KS, and the Ph.D. degree from the University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY. She is a Teaching Associate Professor with the Computer Science Department, University of Buffalo. Her main research interests are in distributed systems, parallel computing, and service-oriented architectures. She heads the GridForce project that focuses on parallel processing at the algorithmic and at the processor level. She also heads the NEXOS (Next Generation Embedded Systems) project that deals with embedded systems curriculum. She has served on the program committee of many conferences. Dr. Ramamurthy is a member of the ACM and the IEEE Computer Society.

Linear Referencing for Network Analysis of IED Events

Kevin Curtin
George Mason Univ Geography Dept

May 20, 2009 at 10:30

ABSTRACT

This paper outlines a motivation for associating IED events (and other significant physical and human geographic features) with the road network, describes the use of methods known as linear referencing in order to do so, and presents an example of how linear referencing of several types of events can occur. This is followed by a description of several measures of network density of events, and a demonstration of how linearly referenced events can be combined to analyze spatial coincidence of different event types. This is followed by suggestions for future research including the development of network based spatial statistics, optimization of network services based on the linearly referenced events, and geographic information system tool development to integrate these methods.

BIO

Kevin Curtin is an Associate Professor of Geography and Geoinformation Science at George Mason University. He performs primary research in the field of Geographic Information Science with specializations in facilities location science, urban and environmental resource allocation, and network GIS. He has geographic area specializations in Colombia and Sardinia. Professor Curtin teaches extensively at both the undergraduate and graduate university levels. Professor Curtin uses his skills in facility location to determine the optimal locations for many types of facilities given a goal to optimize and a set of constraints. He disseminates his research through publication in peer-reviewed geographic journals (including recently Geographical Analysis, Networks and Spatial Economics, The Journal of Geographical Systems, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, and The International Journal of Geographical Information Science) in addition to conference presentations and articles in edited volumes. He is the Coordinator of the Master's Degree in Geographic and Cartographic Sciences, and serves on several administrative committees within the university.

Developing a C4I Architecture for the Netherlands Armed Forces

Dick Ooms and Tim Grant
Netherlands Defence Academy

May 20, 2009 at 10:30

ABSTRACT

In 2008 the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA) embarked on an effort to develop a C4I architecture for the Netherlands Armed Forces, as requested by the Netherlands Defence Staff. The NLDA cooperated in this effort with the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). The development of a Netherlands C4I architecture was already due for some years, so one might wonder: why this sudden urgency? Of course, the C4I architecture would provide more cohesion in the development of C4I requirements. And the requirement for more cohesion was certainly felt in the new Defence Staff, which was created in 2005 by amalgamating the former Navy, Army and Air Force Staffs. Up till that time, these staffs were used to develop their C4I facilities almost in splendid isolation from each other, without a common architecture.

But there were other, more compelling reasons. New developments in military operations, as identified in the Netherlands Defence Doctrine (NDD) [MOD NL, 2006] called for higher levels of interoperability, both within the Netherlands Armed Forces and with its partners. The NDD recognizes three new developments: military operations are increasingly joint (involving coordinated action by two or more services), combined (coordinated multi-national action), and integrated. Since each service may well have its own C2 system, joint and/or combined operations require the respective C2 systems to be capable of exchanging information, i.e. they must be interoperable. In other words, although the trends towards joint and combined operations are operational in nature, they have technological impacts. By contrast, integrated operation refers to technological developments that have an operational impact. The NDD identifies three such technological developments: the increasing importance of information operations, the introduction of Effects-Based Operations (EBO), and the transition to Network-Enabled Capabilities (NEC). The NEC Action Plan [NEC Steering Group, 2008], developed by the Defence Staff, specifies how and when the Netherlands Armed Forces should implement NEC, by stating the ambitions in terms of NEC maturity levels to be attained in specified timeframes. These new developments on military operations were not only recognized in the Defence Staff. They were experienced on the ground, by Dutch forces engaged in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BIO

Dick Ooms retired from the Netherlands Navy as Captain in 2006 and started in 2007 as associate professor, C4ISR at the Netherlands Defence College in Den Helder. During his naval career he served at various ships and staffs and specialised in C4I. His last seagoing tour of duty was on board USS Mount Whitney as NATO C4I advisor of VADM Clark, then Commander, Striking Fleet Atlantic ('97-'98). After promotion as Captain he was appointed Project Leader of the Netherlands joint MILSATCOM project. In '01, he assumed command of the Netherlands Naval Telecommunications Organisation and was elected as Chairman, Maritime Working Group of the NATO C3 Board ('01-'05). He was involved in the design of the new Netherlands Joint Defence Staff and subsequently became in charge of the new Joint Requirements Division. He holds an MSc degree in Knowledge Management Technology.

Tim Grant is NLDA's Professor in Operational ICT & Communications. Tim's research interests span the interplay between military operational needs and ICT capabilities in network-enabled C2 systems. Tim Grant has a BSc in Aeronautical Engineering (Bristol University, UK), a Masters-level Defence Fellowship (Brunel University, UK), and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence (Maastricht University, NL). Before joining the NLDA in 2004, he gained 20 years experience as a Royal Air Force officer in UK and Singapore, and 17 years in the ICT service industry in The Netherlands. Each year, Tim Grant gives an Honours course in Advanced ICT in Planning & Control as a visiting professor at the Department of Computer Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Currently, he is also involved in a consultancy project for the European Space Agency into ICT support for astronaut-robot teams on Mars.

Establishing Presence within the Service-Oriented
      Environment

Eric Konieczny, Ryan Ashcraft, David Cunningham, and Sandeep Maripuri
Booz Allen Hamilton

May 20, 2009 at 14:00

ABSTRACT

As Service Oriented Architectures continue to gain prominence as a mechanism to realize standards-based, distributed computing paradigms, the ability for traditional implementations to support bandwidth disadvantaged and runtime composition scenarios has been questioned. Traditional approaches leverage centralized registry platforms to enable service discovery functionality, but this inherently introduces the possibility of stale metadata and registry information that does not reflect actual operating conditions. Service presence offers a fresh opportunity to redefine service discovery; while not typically viewed as a crucial element of SOA's runtime discovery solution space, service presence significantly enhances the real-time monitoring of services by introducing an omnipresent mechanism for capturing a service's state. This paper focuses on analyzing and evaluating the feasibility of utilizing Peer-to-Peer (P2P) approaches to better facilitate service presence and dynamic service discovery through discussion of experimentation conducted using an eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) driven prototype.

BIO

Eric Konieczny is a Consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., providing software development and technology consulting services to the federal government. His skill set and focus areas include Java/JEE software development, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), and Semantic Web technologies. He is currently participating in several research and piloting activities, specifically involving innovative approaches to dynamic service discovery and dynamic service orchestration. He holds a BS in Computer Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Ryan Ashcraft is an Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton. He has nine years of professional experience in delivering technology consulting services to the government. He has spent much of his career specializing in Model Driven Architecture (MDA) systems while also evangelizing iterative software development lifecycle practices. Mr. Ashcraft is currently focusing on SOA, providing architectural direction and mentoring on several research efforts for Defense and Intelligence Community clients. He has a BS in Computer Science and Economics from Vanderbilt University.

David Cunningham is an Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. He has over 8 years of proven successes in the development of enterprise systems and architecture across the Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC). Mr. Cunningham has hands-on experience leading all stages of application development efforts including requirements definition, architecture and design, development, testing, and production support for enterprise systems. He has a deep understanding of SOA methodologies and standards and leads initiatives across the DoD and IC to ensure interoperability across the two communities.

Sandeep Maripuri is a Senior Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. He has over 10 years of professional experience in delivering technology consulting services to the government and industry, as well as significant experience in the COTS marketplace. His skill set and focus areas include applying advanced technologies, such as semantics-based technologies and grid computing to Net-Centric architectures. He is currently managing research efforts aimed at prototyping transformational, next-generation SOA solutions for Defense and Intelligence Community clients. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering, minor Computer Science, from the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign.

Advanced Vulnerability Analysis and Intrusion Detection
      Through Predictive Attack Graphs

Steven Noel and Sushil Jajodia
George Mason Univ Center
for Secure Information Systems

May 20, 2009 at 14:00

ABSTRACT

Current network security tools generally lack sufficient context for maintaining a well informed and proactive defense posture. Vulnerabilities are usually assessed in isolation, without considering how they contribute to overall attack risk. Similarly, intrusion alarms are logged as isolated events, with limited correlation capabilities. Security professionals are overwhelmed by constant threats, complexity of security data, and network growth. Our approach to network defense applies attack graphs for advanced vulnerability analysis and intrusion detection. Attack graphs map paths of vulnerability, showing how attackers can incrementally penetrate a network. We can then identify critical vulnerabilities and provide strategies for protection of critical network assets. Because of operational constraints, vulnerability paths may often remain. The residual attack graph then guides optimal intrusion detection and attack response. This includes optimal placement of intrusion detection sensors, correlating intrusion alarms, accounting for missed detections, prioritizing alarms, and predicting next possible attack steps.

BIO

Steven Noel

Sushil Jajodia is University Professor, BDM International Professor of Information Technology, and the director of Center for Secure Information Systems at the George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. Before that, he has held positions at the National Science Foundation and Naval Research Laboratory, Washington. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Milan, University of Rome "La Sapienza", and Cambridge University. The scope of his research interests encompasses information secrecy, privacy, integrity, and availability problems in military, civil, and commercial sectors. He has authored six books, edited twenty-eight books, and published more than 300 technical papers in the refereed journals and conference proceedings.

The Case for an Adaptive Integration Framework for
      Data Aggregation/Dissemination in
      Service-Oriented Architectures

Dennis Moen and Lynn Meredith
Lockheed-Martin

May 20, 2009 at 14:00

ABSTRACT

The migration to Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) implies many real-time applications distributed across large geographic areas with highly mobile users and sensors that require exchange of critical data among local as well as distant users across resource constrained networks. These emerging applications can be characterized as distributed collaborative adaptive systems. They are likely to rely on ad hoc wireless networks particularly in military and emergency response applications for transport of critical information and in many cases in multimedia form. Users of these systems are likely to have different needs or views of sensor data either because of organizational role or geographic location. In this distributed architectures, available resources must dynamically reconfigure themselves to respond to external factors such as changes in the environment, changes in short-term objectives, reallocation of responsibilities, and changes in information flow patterns.

This paper describes a framework for dynamic resource management (DRM) and Quality of Service (QoS) in support of network aware applications and resiliency in ad hoc delay tolerant networking. The proposed framework is based on managing per-flow, end-to-end provisioning of heterogeneous network resources in support of mission-driven resource management.

BIO

Dennis Moen is an Affiliate Faculty member of the George Mason Center of Excellence in C4I. He received his BS degree in Engineering at the United States Military Academy and holds a MS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arizona and PhD in Information Technology from George Mason University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and Chairperson of the is an Affiliate Faculty member of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the IEEE Communications Society. His research interests are in the area of survivable network architectures, network design and performance modeling.

Lynn Meredith is a Lockheed Martin Fellow and has over 25 years of experience as a systems engineer and software systems architect in the context of both research and development, and full scale development. His work experience includes systems and software architectures for many different operational systems and advanced research projects including DARPA programs focused on program composition for distributed systems, fault tolerant networking, coalition information management, information assurance, and intelligence integration. He also has research experience with Department of Energy (DOE) high speed secure networking technologies.