Extending the Infosphere to Mobile Platforms Using Optimized COTS Technologies

The objective of this proposal is to develop and demonstrate methods for extending the Battlespace Infosphere to small, mobile and embedded systems using optimized COTS technologies. The USAF Scientific Advisory Board report titled Building the Joint Battlespace Infosphere identifies XML as one of the most promising technologies for representing information objects. Many DoD organizations have adopted XML and established policies for broad XML use. However, transmitting XML over wireless data links and processing it on small, mobile and embedded systems has proved challenging due to the size and complexity of XML data. This creates a data representation rift between fixed, mobile and embedded users of the Battlespace Infosphere. We will develop novel and uniquely efficient methods for encoding and processing XML data to eliminate this rift. These methods will enable deployment of XML solutions on small, embedded and mobile platforms that have limited bandwidth, memory, processing power and/or battery life. They will afford mobile users unprecedented access to the wealth of enterprise information encoded in XML and enable enterprise users easy access to information gathered by mobile users. They will also increase the performance of existing systems and increase opportunities for exploiting COTS software on embedded and mobile platforms.