Even though the U.S. Department of Defense budget is shrinking and the country's military footprint worldwide is receding the need for the warfighter to have accurate and actionable intelligence has never been more critical. Data from Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems such as radar, image processing payloads on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and more will be used and fused together to provide commanders with real-time situational awareness. Each system will also need to embrace open architectures and the latest commercial standards to meet the DoD's performance, size, and cost requirements. This e-cast will discuss how embedded defense suppliers are meeting these challenges.

1. Your systems. Working as one.
DDS: Enabling Open Architecture
David Barnett | david@rti.com | @rtidavid
December 4, 2013

2. Challenge: Communication and Integration
How Do Applications and Devices Share Data?
System
System of Systems
Sensors
Weapon
Controller
UI
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Mapping
Mission
Planning
Vehicle
Comms
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3. Traditional Approach:
Point-to-Point Integration
• Explicit
connections
• Increasingly
complex over time
• Stovepipe and
brittle
• Poor reuse
• Hard to
reconfigure
E.g., sockets, RPC
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4. Cost Constrains Integration and
Limits Data Sharing
Time & cost of
integration,
maintenance and
upgrades
System Scale and Age
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5. Solution: “Software Data Bus”
S/W
S/W
S/W
S/W
Data Distribution Service
• Software components
are plug and play
• Simple, loosely coupled
architecture
– No point-to-point
integration logic
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© 2013 RTI
• Scales to large projects
and systems of systems
– A modular, open
architecture
• Enables rapid
reconfiguration
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6. Foundation: Publish/Subscribe
Sensor
Sensor
Commands
Sensor Data
Sensor Data
Data Distribution Service
Control
App
Display
App
Actuator
Components are loosely-coupled, require no knowledge of each other
December 4, 2013
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7. Data Distribution Service (DDS)
Cross-vendor portability
DDS API (Application
Programming Interface)
DDS Middleware
DDS Real-Time
Publish-Subscribe
Wire Protocol (RTPS)
• Open standard
• Object Management Group
(OMG)
• At least 10 implementations
• Designed for real-time,
embedded, mission critical
• Middleware and subsystem
vendor independence
Cross-vendor interoperability
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8. Integration Scenarios
New and Updated Applications
Existing, Unmodified Applications
Unmodified
App
DDS
API
App or
Component
App or
Component
DDS Library
DDS Library
Unmodified
App
DDS or other protocol
Adapter
DDS Routing
Service
Adapter
DDS Routing
Service
DDS-RTPS Wire Interoperability Protocol
• Completely decentralized
• Components communicate peer-to-peer
• No intermediate servers, message brokers, daemon processes
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9. Broad Interoperability for
Heterogeneous Systems
• Programming languages and
environments
• Processor families
– x86, ARM, PowerPC
– 32- and 64-bit
– C, C++, C#/.NET, Java, Ada
– REST/HTTP
• Transport types
– LabVIEW, MATLAB, Simulink, UML
– Shared memory
• Operating systems
– LAN (incl. multicast)
– Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS
– WAN
– Embedded, real time, partitioned
– Secure
– Mobile
– Low bandwidth
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10. Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE)
Transport Services Segment (TSS)
PCS
Component
PCS
Component
PSS
Component
PSS
Component
FACE TSS
Transport Services API to DDS Mapping
FACE Transport
Services (TS) API
OMG DDS API
DDS Library
Intraproces
s
Shared
memor
y
ARINC
Ports
Sockets
Other/
Custom
Pluggable
transports
DDS-RTPS
protocol
FACE General Purpose or Security Profile (w/Connext DDS Cert)
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11. Why Distribution Middleware?
DIA
DIA
FIL
FIL
Each module talks to many
other modules
NAV
NAV
TDM
TDM
3.0 Fusion
CEC
RIP
CEC
RIP
MUX
MUX
MCP
IPCC
MCP
IPCC
aADNS
TRK
TRK
5.0 Communications
L4
L11
L16
L4
L11
L16
7.0 Visualization
ACIS
HMI
ACIS
HMI
TIS
MSI
MSI
IPv6
Distributed Data Framework
Hawkeye has functionally
oriented software modules
Adding new
functionality cascades
integration re-work
across many other
modules
2.0 Sensors
IFF
RDR
IFF
RDR
1.0 Common Services
ESM
ESM
DWC
4.0 BMC2
WAC
WAC
SAFE
SAFE
TDA
TDA
RAIDER CHAT
6.0 Sensor Control
SEN
DSC
SEN
DSC
8.0 Training
T4O
Grouping the modules into functional clusters does nothing to change that reality and
ease software integration
Changing the communication between the modules can ease integration, when the new
‘Publish Subscribe’ approach is used – each module publishes its output w/o regard to
who is receiving it, in contrast to the point-to-point approach of traditional inter-process
communication
It’s about an architecture that can assimilate evolving functionality, rather than remaining set in time
UNCLASSIFIED

12. Asset Tracking System
Legacy Capability:
Next-Gen Capability:
•
•
•
•
• 50K lines of code—order
of magnitude less
• 1 yr to develop—8x less
• 1 laptop—20x less
• Achieved: 250K+ tracked
updates/sec, no single
point of failure
500K lines of code
8 yrs to develop
21 servers
Achieved: 20K tracked
updates/sec, reliability
and uptime challenges
“This would not have been possible with any other known technology.”
—Network Ops Center Technical Lead
December 4, 2013
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13. About RTI
• Communications middleware market leader
– Largest embedded middleware vendor*
– Over 70% commercial DDS market share*
• Standards leader
– Active in 15 standards efforts
– OMG Board of Directors
– DDS authors
• Real-time pedigree
– Founded by Stanford researchers
– High-performance control, tools history
• Maturity leader
– 600+ designs. 400+ research projects
– 400,000+ licensed copies
– TRL 9
*Embedded
Market Forecasters
and Venture Development Corp (VDC)
December 4, 2013
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14. RTI Connext DDS Product Family
General Purpose,
Real-Time Apps
Small Footprint
Apps
Safety Critical
Apps, up to DO178C Level A
Disparate
Apps/Systems
DDS API
Adapter
General Purpose
Micro
Cert
Routing Service
DDS Superset
DDS Subset
DDS Subset
Mediation, routing
DDS-RTPS Wire Interoperability
Administration
Recording
Monitoring
Replay
System Viz
Logging
Tools
December 4, 2013
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15. Summary
Open Architecture
DDS
• Cost-effective integration of
larger systems and SoS
• Reuse
• Rapid reconfiguration
• Improved data sharing and
situational awareness
• Software foundation for OA
• Eliminates costly point-topoint integration
• Provides seamless
Interoperability
– Subsystems
– New and existing applications
• Satisfies needs of missioncritical system
December 4, 2013
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16. Your systems. Working as one.
Thank You!