Graphical Trace Object (GTO) Tool

This SBIR project will provide the Navy with a Graphical Trace Object (GTO) Tool, which will generate effective and efficient visualizations of distributed applications from real-time trace data. Our goal is to successfully visualize a running distributed application, allowing the end-user to understand what the application is doing at any given moment, where problems are occurring, and whether the application deviates from its original design. Our Phase I research will extend techniques used in currently available tools by incorporating recent visualization research into the use of UML diagrams and other static visualization techniques in real time (i.e., making the static diagrams dynamic). In Phase II we will develop a prototype of the tool (i.e., a Beta version) for evaluation use in military testbeds and commercial enterprises; based on feedback from Navy evaluation and analysis of the effectiveness of our visualization techniques, Phase II will result in a working tool fully releasable to military customers. Phase III will consist of 1) sales to commercial customers capable of using the tool off the shelf (based on standard SBIR intellectual property rights), and 2) follow-on funding from military and commercial transition customers to enhance the tool and/or tailor it to their desired specifications.