ARCHITECTURE EVALUATION TEST BED

THE ESTIMATION OF THE COMPUTER CAPACITIES REQUIRED TO SUPPORT A MISSION ARE USUALLY THE SUBJECT OF MUCH DISCUSSION. ESTIMATES OF THE WORKLOAD AND OTHER PARAMETERS VARY GREATLY. THE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT MOST APPLICATIONS DO NOT FIT THE TRADITIONAL TIMING AND SIZING EFFORT. NONE OF THE THREE COMPONENTS (WORKLOAD, PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS AND ARCHITECTURE) IS USUALLY PRESENT. WE CONTEND THAT THE MISSION'S CONCEPTS OF OPERATION AND THE PERCEIVED SCENARIOS HAVE SUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO DERIVE THE WORKLOAD AND THE PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS. THEN USING THESE TWO COMPONENTS WE CAN DERIVE THE SPECIFICATIONS FOR A BASELINE ARCHITECTURE. WE PROPOSE TO RESEARCH THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS IDEA AS A PHASE I PROJECT AND IF OUR OBJECTIVES ARE SATISIFIED TO BUILD A PC-BSED TOOL AND A TESTBED AS A PHASE II PROJECT. THE TOOL WILL PERFORM TWO IMPORTANT TASKS: IT WILL (1) USE THE NAVY UNDERWATER SYSTEM CENTER'S MISSION SCENAIRO TO DERIVE THE WORKLOAD MODEL AND PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS, (2) USE THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST TASK, AND AN ARCHITECTURE DESIGNED BY THE USER ON THE SCREEN TO ASSESS THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE ARCHITECTURE TO PROCESS THE DERIVED WORKLOAD SUBJECT TO DERIVED PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS.