METHODS OF EXPRESSING INTERFACE DESIGN STANDARDS IDS AND PROTOCOLS

NAVAL SHIPBOARD COMBAT SYSTEM DESIGN IS BEGINNING A TREND TOWARD FULL INTEGRATION OF SENSORS, WEAPONS, AND COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS. THIS TREND NECESSITATES A NEW, STANDARD METHODOLOGY FOR INTERFACE SPECIFICATION. THE DATA REPRESENTATION, MESSAGE FORMAT, AND DATA EXCHANGE PROTOCOLS MUST BE CLEARLY SPECIFIED SO THAT ALL INTERCONNECTED EGUIPMENTS CAN COMMUNICATE EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY. STANDARDS FOR THE MEANS OF INFORMATION TRANSFER ARE EMERGING (E.G., SAFENET AND FUTUREBUS+), BUT FEW STANDARDS EXIST THAT DEFINE THE REPRESENTATION AND SYNTAX OF THE INFORMATION THAT IS GENERATED AND USED WITHIN THE COMBATSYSTEM. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE FULL COMBAT SYSTEM INTEGRATION, STANDARDS MUST BE DEVELOPED THAT WILL ESTABLISH UNIFORM DATA REPRESENTATION AND STANDARD MESSAGE FORMATS. THE WORK PROPOSED UNDER PHASE I WILL DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE METHODOLOGY FOR EXPRESSING INTERFACE DESIGN SPECIFICATION (IDS) INFORMATION UNAMBISLY USING MATHEMATICALLY LOGICAL RESSIONS THIS WORK WILL INVOLVE APPLICATION OF TWO COMPLIMENTARY INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS TO THE PROBLEM OF DEFINITION OF TACTICAL DATA THAT IS TRANSFERRED BETWEEN SHIPBOARD EQUIPMENTS. THE INVESTIGATIONS PERFORMED DURING PHASE I WILL: (1) DEFINE A METHODOLOGY FOR ENCODING (REPRESENTATION) OF DATA; (2) DEFINE A METHODOLOGY FOR SPECIFYING MESSAGE FORMATS; (3) AUTOMATE THE PROCESS OF IDS PREPARATION; AND, (4) PROVIDE A FLEXIBLE DATABASE WHICH WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STANDARD MESSAGE CATALOG.