Addressing the Challenges of Tactical Information Management in Net-Centric Systems With DDS

Software Engineering Technology

Addressing the Challenges of Tactical Information
Management in Net-Centric Systems With DDS
Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt, Dr. Angelo Corsaro, and Hans van’t Hag
PrismTech Corporation
Recent trends in net-centric systems motivate the development of tactical information management capabilities that ensure the
right information is delivered to the right place at the right time to satisfy quality of service (QoS) requirements in heteroge-
neous environments. This article presents an architectural overview of the Object Management Group’s (OMG) Data
Distribution Service (DDS), which is a standards-based QoS-enabled data-centric middleware platform that enables applica-
tions to communicate by publishing information they have and subscribing to information they need in a timely manner. DDS
is an important distributed software technology for mission-critical Department of Defense (DoD) net-centric systems because
it supports the following: (1) location independence, via anonymous publish/subscribe (pub/sub) protocols that enable commu-
nication between collocated or remote publishers and subscribers, (2) scalability, by supporting large numbers of topics, data

T
readers, and data writers and platform portability, and (3) interoperability, via standard interfaces and transport protocols.
actical information management sys- the Common Object Request Broker works.
tems increasingly run in net-centric Architecture [CORBA] Event Service and • An orchestrated information bus
environments characterized by thousands Notification Service, the Java Message that aggregates, filters, and prioritizes
of platforms, sensors, decision nodes, and Service [JMS], and various other propri- the delivery of this information to
computers connected together to etary middleware products) have histori- work effectively under the restrictions
exchange information, support sense- cally lacked key architectural and QoS of transient and enduring resource
making, enable collaborative decision capabilities, such as dependability, surviv- constraints.
making, and effect changes in the physical ability, scalability, determinism, security, • Continuous adaptation to changes
environment. For example, the Global and confidentiality needed by net-centric in the operating environment, such as
Information Grid (GIG) is an ambitious systems for tactical information manage- dynamic network topologies, publisher
net-centric environment being designed to ment. To address these limitations – and and subscriber membership changes,
ensure that different services and coalition to better support tactical information and intermittent connectivity.
partners, as well as individuals participat- management in net-centric systems like • Standard QoS policies and mecha-
ing to specific missions, can collaborate the GIG – the OMG has adopted the nisms that enable applications and
effectively and deliver appropriate fire- DDS specification, which is a standard for administrators to customize the way
power, information, or other essential QoS-enabled data-centric pub/sub com- information is delivered, received, and
assets to warfighters in a timely, depend- munication aimed at net-centric tactical processed in the appropriate form and
able, and secure manner [1]. Achieving information management systems [2]. level of detail to users at multiple lev-
this vision requires the following capabili- DDS is used in a wide range of military els in net-centric systems.
ties from the distributed middleware soft- and commercial systems including naval This section describes the key capabil-
ware: combat management systems, commercial ities and entities in DDS and shows how
• Shared operational picture. A key air traffic control, transportation manage- its QoS policies can be used to specify and
requirement for mission-critical net- ment, automated stock trading systems, enforce performance-related requirements
centric systems is the ability to share and semiconductor fabrication devices. of net-centric tactical information man-
an operational picture with planners, The remainder of this article presents agement systems. Figure 1 shows the vari-
warfighters, and operators in real-time. an overview of DDS that is geared to ous profiles and layers in the DDS stan-
• Ensure the right data gets to the software architects. We also discuss the dard. The lower layer defines a Data-
right place at the right time by satis- DDS QoS policies that are the most rele- Centric Publish Subscribe (DCPS) plat-
fying end-to-end QoS requirements, vant for net-centric tactical information form, whose goal is to provide efficient,
such as latency, jitter, throughput, management systems. Finally, we explain scalable, predictable, and resource-aware
dependability, and scalability. how DDS has been applied in practice to data distribution. The higher layer is the
• Interoperability and portability in address key challenges of developing and Data Local Reconstruction Layer (DLRL),
heterogeneous environments. Since operating distributed software in current which is an optional interface that pro-
net-centric systems are faced with and planned net-centric tactical informa- vides an object-oriented facáde atop the
unprecedented challenges in terms of tion management systems. DCPS. The DLRL can be used to map
platform and network heterogeneity, topics onto object fields and defines navi-
they are necessary. Overview of DDS gable associations between objects.
• Support for dynamic coalitions. In DDS provides the following capabilities A separate specification, called the
many net-centric tactical information for net-centric tactical information sys- Real-Time Publish/Subscribe (RTPS)
management systems, dynamically tems: DDS interoperability wire protocol,
formed coalition of nodes will need to • Universal access to information defines the standard network protocol
share a common operational picture from a wide variety of sources that run used to exchange data between publishers
and exchange data seamlessly. over potentially heterogeneous hard- and subscribers that use different imple-
Prior middleware technologies (such as ware/software platforms and net- mentations of DDS [3]. The remainder of

24 CROSSTALK The Journal of Defense Software Engineering March 2008

Addressing the Challenges of Tactical Information Management in Net-Centric Systems With DDS

this section describes the conceptual
model of DDS and explains the QoS poli-
cies that are most relevant for net-centric
tactical information management systems.
Data Local Reconstruction Layer (DLRL)
DDS Conceptual Model

DDS applications send and receive data
Domains and Partitions

within a domain. Domains can be divided
into partitions that allow the separation
and protection of different data flows.
Although DDS entities can belong to dif-
ferent domains, only participants within
the same domain can communicate, which
helps isolate and optimize communication
Data Centric Publish Subscribe (DCPS)

within communities that share common Figure 1: Profiles and Layers in the DDS Standard
interests. For example, each communica-
tion layer within the GIG could be associ- object-oriented models. DDS thus allows In net-centric tactical information sys-
ated with a DDS domain and further sub- the expression of the system information tems, an information model will be associ-
divided into partitions. This approach iso- model as either a 1) topic relational model, ated with every layer in which DDS-based
lates domain participants across layers, which can be thought of as an extension data exchange occurs. This information
which enables effective use of resources of the familiar entity relationship diagrams model, which can comply with DoD or
and helps enforce security and confiden- used in data bases, decorated with QoS, or North American Trade Organization stan-
tiality policies. 2) an object-oriented model, which can dards, is the lingua franca used by the dif-
also be synthesized as an object-oriented ferent applications in coalitions to
B

view of the relational model.
m
exchange information and seamlessly
DDS provides a strongly typed global data The DCPS layer provides support for interoperate. Likewise, the QoS policies
Global Data Space

space within each domain in which appli- relational modeling, while the DLRL decorating the information model deter-
A F

cations produce and consume the dynam- extends the DCPS with an object-oriented mine how the data is disseminated, per-
ically changing portions of a shared infor- facade, so that applications can either sisted, and receivedC in the global data
J

completely ignore the DCPS relational space.(DLRL)
D

mation model, as shown in Figure 2. DDS’
models or build an object model atop the
Data Local Reconstruction Layer
information model capabilities are similar
to those of relational databases, except DLRL. Data associated with DDS topics Publishers and Subscribers
K
E

that DDS’ global data space is completely are expressed using types defined by the In net-centric tactical information man-
distributed, QoS-aware, and allows anony- standard OMG Interface Definition agement systems, publishers and sub-
mous and asynchronous sharing of a Language (IDL), which simplifies the scribers correspond to a range of domain
common information model. The DDS inter-working between DDS and CORBA. participants such as embedded devices,
information model is the only knowledge Relationships between topics can be cap- Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs), soldiers’
publishers and subscribers need to com- tured via keys that can be used to distin- equipment, as well as planning and simula-
municate, i.e., they need not be aware of guish between different instances of the tion services in operations centers. DDS
each other nor be concerned with low- same topic. applications use data writers to publish
Name
Data Centric Publish Subscribe (DCPS)

level network programming details, such Figure 2: DDS Global Data Space in a Domain
as Internet protocol addresses, port num-
bers, remote object references, or service
Type Topic QoS

names. By allowing data to flow where and
when needed, DDS’s global data space
enables the sharing of tactical information
and situational awareness information
needed to implement net-centric tactical
information management systems. B

m

A DDS topic is an association between a
Topic

data type, a set of QoS, and a unique
A F

name, as shown in Figure 3 (see page 26).
A topic is also the unit of information
J
D C

contained in DDS’ global data space and
is used by applications to define their
information model and associate QoS
K
E

policies with it. DDS applications in net-
centric systems define their information
model by identifying topics that are rele-
vant for solving their requirements and
organizing them into either relational or

March 2008 Name www.stsc.hill.af.mil 25


described, DDS also supports content-based capability supports dynamic scenarios
subscription, in which a subset of the stan- common in net-centric tactical informa-
dard Structured Query Language (SQL) is tion management where cooperating
Name

used to specify subscription filters. In domain participants join and leave
DDS a matching subscription must match throughout system operation.
the following two types of a topic’s prop-
Type Topic QoS

erties: (1) its features, such as its type,
Figure 3: DDS Topic name, key, and content; (2) its QoS poli- DDS is designed for mission-critical net-
QoS Policies

data values to the global data space of a cies, which are described in the QoS Policies centric systems where the right answer
domain and data readers to receive data. A section. delivered too late becomes the wrong
publisher is a factory that creates and The matching process for QoS uses a answer. To meet timing requirements it is
manages a group of data writers with sim- requested/offered (RxO) model shown in essential that the middleware controls and
ilar behavior or QoS policies, as shown in Table 1, where the requested QoS must be optimizes the use of resources, such as net-
Figure 4. A subscriber is a factory that cre- less than or equal to the offered QoS. For work bandwidth, memory, and CPU time.
ates and manages data readers, as shown example, subscribers requesting reliable Table 1 shows the rich set of QoS policies
in Figure 4. data delivery cannot communicate with that DDS provides to control and limit
Publishers can declare their intent to publishers that only distribute data using topic (T), data reader (DR), data writer
produce data on particular topics with best effort delivery. Likewise, subscribers (DW), publisher (P), and subscriber (S)
cannot request a topic update whose dead- resources and topic QoS properties, such
associated QoS, and they distribute the
line is smaller than that declared by any as persistence, reliability, and timeliness [2].
data on those topics to the global data
publishers. Below we discuss the DDS QoS policies
space. Subscribers receive topic data in the
The subscription matching mechanism that are the most relevant for net-centric
global data space that match their sub- tactical information management systems.
provided by DDS enforces a powerful
scriptions (the rules that define what rep- form of design by contract [4], where QoS is
resents a matching subscription are used together with type information to
described below). QoS policies allow pub- decide whether publishers and subscribers DDS provides the following QoS policies
Data Availability

lishers and subscribers to define, first, can communicate. This extended form of that control the availability of data to
their local behavior, such as the number of design by contract helps ensure that net- domain participants:
historical data samples they require and centric systems will operate as intended, • The Durability QoS policy controls
the maximum update-rate at which they both from functional and QoS perspec- the lifetime of the data written to the
want to receive data, and, second, how tives. These assurances are essential in the global data space in a domain.
data should be treated once in transit with development, deployment, and operation Supported durability levels include the
respect to reliability, urgency, importance, of mission-critical net-centric tactical following: (1) volatile, which specifies
and durability. Topics can also be annotat- information management systems. that once data is published it is not
ed with these QoS policies to drive the maintained by DDS for delivery to late
behavior of the data-distribution. The joining applications; (2) transient local,
QoS policies of pre-defined topics serve Another key feature of DDS is that all which specifies that publishers store
Discovery

as defaults for publishers and subscribers information needed to establish commu- data locally so that late joining sub-
and can therefore ensure consistency nication can be discovered automatically, scribers get the last published item if a
between requested and offered QoS. in a completely distributed manner. publisher is still alive; (3) transient,
Applications dynamically declare their which ensures that the global data
intent to become publishers and/or sub- space maintains the information out-
A subscription is an operation that associ- scribers of one or more topics to the DDS side the local scope of any publishers
Subscriptions and Matching

ates a subscriber to its matching publish- middleware, which uses this information for use by late joining subscribers; and
ers, as shown in the center of Figure 4. In to establish the proper communication (4) persistent, which ensures that the
addition to the topic-based subscriptions paths between discovered entities. This global data space stores the informa-
Figure 4: DDS Publisher/Writer Subscriber/Reader and Subscription/QoS Matching tion persistently so it is available to late
joiners even after the shutdown and
restart of the system. Durability is
achieved by relying on a durability ser-
QoS matching

vice whose properties are configured
by means of the DURABILITY_SER-
QoS QoS QoS

VICE QoS.
• The LIFESPAN QoS policy controls
QoS Topic QoS
Name

the interval of time during which a
data sample is valid. The default value
DataWriter writes Type reads DataReader

is infinite, with alternative values being
Publisher ... ... ... Subscriber

the time-span for which the data can
be considered valid.
DataWriter writes Type reads DataReader

• The HISTORY QoS policy controls
Name

the number of data samples (i.e., sub-
Topic

sequent writes of the same topic) that
must be stored for readers or writers.
QoS QoS QoS

Possible values are the last sample, the
QoS matching



last n samples, or all samples.
These QoS policies provide the DDS
QoS Policy Applicability RxO Modifiable
global data space with the ability to coop- T, DR, DW Y N
erate in highly dynamic environments
DURABILITY

characterized by continuous joining and
DURABILITY T, DW N N
Data
leaving of publisher/subscribers. This
SERVICE

capability makes it possible for net-centric
Availability
LIFESPAN T, DW - Y

tactical information management systems HISTORY T, DR, DW N N
to share a common operational picture
regardless of the dynamism that charac-
PRESENTATION P, S Y N

terizes portions of the systems, such as
RELIABILITY T, DR, DW Y N
coalitions of soldiers collaborating in P, S N Y
urban environments or coordinated UAVs
PARTITION

in support of tactical operations.
DESTINATION T, DR, DW Y N Data Delivery
ORDER
OWNERSHIP T, DR, DW Y N

DDS provides the following QoS policies
Data Delivery
DW - Y
that control how data is delivered and
OWNERSHIP
STRENGTH
which publishers are allowed to write a
specific topic:
DEADLINE T, DR, DW Y Y

• The PRESENTATION QoS policy
LATENCY T, DR, DW Y Y

gives control on how changes to the
Data
BUDGET

information model are presented to
Timeliness
TRANSPORT T, DW - Y
subscribers. This QoS gives control on PRIORITY
the ordering as well as the coherency
of data updates. The scope at which it
TIME BASED DR - Y

is applied is defined by the access
FILTER
Resources
scope, which can be one of
RESOURCE T, DR, DW N N

INSTANCE, TOPIC, or GROUP
LIMITS

level. USER_DATA DP, DR, DW N Y
• The RELIABILITY QoS policy con-
trols the level of reliability associated
TOPIC_DATA T N Y Configuration

with data diffusion. Possible choices
GROUP_DATA P, S N Y

are RELIABLE and BEST_EFFORT Table 1: Key QoS Policies for Net-Centric Systems
distribution. offered by the DDS content-awareness or with a topic instance, thus allowing
• The PARTITION QoS policy gives profile that allows applications to select a DDS implementation to prioritize
control over the association between information of interest based upon their more important data relative to less
DDS partitions (represented by a content. important data.
string name) and a specific instance of These QoS policies make it possible to
a publisher/subscriber. ensure that tactical information needed to
• The DESTINATION_ORDER QoS DDS provides the following QoS policies reconstruct the shared operational picture
Data Timeliness

policy controls the order of changes that control the timeliness properties of is delivered in a timely manner.
made by publishers to some instance distributed data:
of a given topic. DDS allows the
• The DEADLINE QoS policy allows
ordering of different changes accord-
applications to define the maximum DDS defines the following QoS policies
Resources
ing to source or destination time-
inter-arrival time for data. DDS can be to control the network and computing
stamps.
• The OWNERSHIP QoS policy con- configured to automatically notify resources that are essential to meet data
trols which writer owns the write- applications when deadlines are dissemination requirements:
access to a topic when there are multi- missed. • The TIME_BASED_FILTER QoS
ple writers and ownership is EXCLU- • The LATENCY_BUDGET QoS pol- policy allows applications to specify
SIVE. Only the writer with the highest icy provides a means for applications the minimum inter-arrival time
OWNERSHIP_STRENGTH can to inform DDS of the urgency associ- between data samples, thereby
publish the data. If the OWNERSHIP ated with transmitted data. The latency expressing their capability to consume
QoS policy value is shared, multiple budget specifies the time period with- information at a maximum rate.
writers can concurrently update a in which DDS must distribute the Samples that are produced at a faster
topic. OWNERSHIP thus helps to information. This time period starts pace are not delivered. This policy
manage replicated publishers of the from the moment the data is written helps a DDS implementation optimize
same data. by a publisher until it is available in the network bandwidth, memory, and pro-
These QoS policies control the relia- subscriber’s data-cache ready for use cessing power for subscribers that are
bility and availability of the data, thus by reader(s). connected over limited bandwidth net-
allowing the delivery of the right data to • The TRANSPORT_PRIORITY QoS works or which have limited comput-
the right place at the right time. More elab- policy allows applications to control ing capabilities.
orate ways of selecting the right data are the importance associated with a topic • The RESOURCE_LIMITS QoS poli-

March 2008 www.stsc.hill.af.mil 27


cy allows applications to control the next-generation combat management sys- The DDS implementation used on
amount of message buffering per- tems, and Defense Information Systems TACTICOS supports a data-centric
formed by a DDS implementation. Agency as the standard technology for approach where at the start of the system
DDS’s QoS policies support the vari- publish/subscribe to be used in all new or design, the information model can be cap-
ous elements and operating scenarios that upgraded systems [5, 6]. Several major tured, annotated with proper QoS poli-
constitute net-centric tactical information defense programs, such as the U.S. Navy’s cies, and then shared between multiple
management. By controlling these QoS DDG-1000 land attack destroyer, U.S. parties. This federated architecture is com-
policies it is possible to scale DDS from Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS), mon in existing and planned coalition-based
low-end embedded systems connected and the Thales Tactical Information And developments where multiple parties
with narrow and noisy radio links, to high- Command System Operating System jointly implement the overall combat sys-
end servers connected to high-speed (TACTICOS), also adopted DDS even tem. DDS provides the fault-tolerant
fiber-optic networks. before it was mandated, underscoring information backbone onto which all
DDS’ ability to address the data distribu- these applications are deployed and is thus
tion challenges of next generation net- responsible for providing each application
The QoS policies described above provide centric defense systems. with the right information at the right
Configuration

control over the most important aspects For example, the TACTICOS combat time.
of data delivery, availability, timeliness, management system developed by Thales Along with the rapid adoption of
and resource usage. In addition, DDS also Naval Netherlands is based on an imple- DDS in the defense domain, its use is also
supports the definition and distribution of mentation of DDS that allows them to steadily growing in other domains, such as
user specified bootstrapping information achieve very good scalability, from small transportation, telecommunications, and
via the following QoS policies: finance. For example, in the context of
• The USER DATA QoS policy allows Air Traffic Control and Management,
applications to associate a sequence of DDS provides the DDS has been selected as the
octets to domain participant data read- publish/subscribe middleware for distrib-
ers and data writers. This data is then fault-tolerant information uting flight data plans in CoFlight [9],
distributed by means of the DCPS which is the next generation European
participant built-in topic. This QoS backbone onto which Flight Data Processor. In general, DDS is
policy is commonly used to distribute an appropriate middleware technology for
security credentials. all these applications are application domains that require rich sup-
• The TOPIC_DATA QoS policy port for QoS policies and high-perfor-
allows applications to associate a deployed and is thus mance and dependability standards-based,
sequence of octets with a topic. This commercial-off-the-shelf implementa-
bootstrapping information is distrib- responsible for providing tions.
uted by means of the DCPS Topic
built-in topic. A common use of this each application with Concluding Remarks
QoS policy is to extend topics with DDS is a standards-based QoS-enabled
additional information, or meta-infor- the right information data-centric publish/subscribe middle-
mation, such as eXtensible Markup ware that provides a feature rich data-cen-
Language schemas. at the right time. tric real-time platform to support the
• The GROUP_DATA QoS policy needs of current and planned net-centric
allows applications to associate a ships to aircraft carrier grade, as well as tactical information management systems.
sequence of octets with publishers and high performance, availability, and deter- Its powerful set of QoS policies, together
subscribers. This bootstrapping infor- minism even under temporary overload with its scalable architecture, makes it an
mation is distributed by means of the conditions [7, 8]. TACTICOS is currently effective and mature choice for solving the
DCPS subscription,and DCPS publi- in use in 15 navies worldwide serving 20 data distribution and information manage-
cation built-in topics, respectively. A ships-classes ranging from small patrol ment problems net-centric systems [10].
typical use of this information is to boats up to large frigates. The utilization Next, we summarize how DDS addresses
allow additional application control of DDS is instrumental in its success the key challenges outlined in the intro-
over subscriptions matching. since it provides both the scalability to duction in a standard and interoperable
support thousands of applications run- manner:
ning on more than 150 distributed com- • Shared operational picture. DDS
puters on a frigate size system. Another
DDS Success Stories
Although DDS is a relatively new standard provides effective support for these
(adopted by the OMG in 2004), it has key feature of DDS is its battle-damage types of applications via its QoS poli-
been adopted quickly due to its ability to resistance, meaning that software can be cies for defining the scope, content,
address key requirements of data distribu- dynamically re-allocated to the remaining and QoS of the data model that under-
tion in net-centric systems, as well as the computer pool in case of an error on a lies the operational picture.
maturity and quality of available imple- specific computer. The DDS Persistence • The right data at the right time at
mentations, which are based on decades of Profile support is instrumental in this the right place via DDS QoS policies
experience developing data-centric mid- dynamic reallocation since it allows appli- that enable a fine-grained control over
dleware for mission-critical systems. cations to store their internal state into the information delivery, such as the abili-
Moreover, DDS has been mandated by DDS middleware, which manages this ty to control many aspects of data dis-
the U.S. Navy’s Open Architecture state in a distributed and fault-tolerant way semination to ensure timely delivery
Computing Environment as the standard so that restarted applications can continue and optimal resource usage.
publish/subscribe technology to use in what they were doing before they crashed. • Heterogeneous environment. By



providing standard QoS policies that dardized. The OMG will be addressing Protocol Specification.” <www.omg.
control the bandwidth used for pro- this area of standardization starting in the org/cgi-bin/apps/doc?ptc/06-08
viding data to interested parties, DDS spring of 2008. -02.pdf>.
runs in heterogeneous platforms while With multiple COTS and open-source 4. Bertrand, Meyer. Object Oriented
providing different elements with a implementations and a solid track record Software Construction. 2nd ed.,
common operational picture. of success in mission-critical military and Prentice Hall, 2001.
• Dynamic coalitions. The highly commercial projects, DDS has a bright 5. “Open Architecture Computing
dynamic nature of DDS, such as its future as the standards-based middleware Environment.” <www.nswc.navy.mil/
support for dynamic discovery, pro- of choice for net-centric tactical informa- wwwDL/B/OACE>.
vides an effective platform for sup- tion systems. More information on DDS 6. Defense Systems Information Agency.
porting ad hoc interactions. and its application in practice are available “DoD Information Technology
DDS continues to evolve to meet new in online forums [11, 12] where experts Standards Registry.” <https://disron
operational and technical challenges of discuss advanced features of the DDS line.disa.mil>.
net-centric tactical information manage- standard and new directions for the tech- 7. THALES. “TACTICOS Combat
ment systems. Three types of extensions nology, while DDS beginners can learn Management System, Exploiting the
are currently being pursued for DDS by from past experiences and ask questions
Full DDS Potential.” <www.omg.
the OMG. The first involves adding new about patterns and best practices for
platform-specific models that fully lever- org/docs/dds/06-12-06.pdf.>.
applying DDS in their net-centric sys-
age programming language features, such tems.N 8. “OpenSplice DDS.” <www.prismtech.
as standard C++ containers. The second com/openplice-dds>.
extension deals with extensible topics that 9. CoFlight eFDP <www.omg.org/docs/
dds/07-07-04.pdf>.
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enable incremental system updates by 1. “The United States Department of
ensuring that changes in the data model Defense Quadrennial Defense Review 10. Xiong, Ming, et al. “Evaluating
do not break interoperability. The final set Report.” Feb. 2006 <www.defense Technologies for Tactical Information
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the DDS standard will likely allow the def- Real-Time Systems Specification.” ference, Apr. 9-13, 2007, Orlando, FL.
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use of XML or Java Script Object -02.pdf>. omg.org/dds>.
Notation as the network data representa- 3. OMG. “Real-Time Publish Subscribe 12. OMG DDS Forum <www.dds-forum.
tion. DDS security has not yet been stan- Protocol – DDS Interoperability Wire org>.

About the Authors
Douglas C. Schmidt, Angelo Corsaro, Ph.D., Hans Van’t Hag is the
Ph.D., is a professor of is the OpenSplice DDS OpenSplice DDS prod-
computer science at product marketing man- uct manager, at
Vanderbilt University ager at PrismTech and PrismTech. He has
and is the chief technical co-chairs the OMG DDS extensive experience in
officer of PrismTech. Special Interest Group applying an information
His expertise focuses on distributed and the Real-Time Embedded and approach towards mission-critical and
computing middleware, object-oriented Specialized Services task force. He is real-time net-centric systems. Hag is a
patterns and frameworks, and distrib- well-known in the distributed real-time contributor to the OMG DDS specifica-
uted real-time and embedded systems. and embedded systems middleware tion and has presented numerous papers
He has authored nine books and more community and has a wealth of experi- on DDS and publish/subscribe middle-
than 350 papers in top technical journals, ence in hard real-time embedded sys- ware technologies. Prior to joining
conferences, and books that cover high- tems, large-scale, and very large-scale PrismTech, he worked at Thales Naval
performance communication software distributed systems such as defense, Netherlands (TNN) where he was
systems, real-time distributed comput- aerospace, homeland security and trans- responsible for the development of the
ing, and object-oriented patterns for portation systems. data-centric real-time middleware as
concurrent and distributed systems. applied in TNN’s combat system in ser-
PrismTech Corporation vice with 15 navies worldwide.
PrismTech Corporation 6 Lincoln Knoll LN
6 Lincoln Knoll LN STE 100 PrismTech Corporation
STE 100 Burlington, MA 01803 6 Lincoln Knoll LN STE 100
Burlington, MA 01803 Phone: (781) 270-1177 Burlington, MA 01803
Phone: (781) 270-1177 Fax: (781) 238-1700 Phone: (781) 270-1177
Fax: (781) 238-1700 E-mail: angelo.corsaro Fax: (781) 238-1700
E-mail: doug.schmidt @prismtech.com E-mail: hans.vanthag
@prismtech.com @prismtech.com

March 2008 www.stsc.hill.af.mil 29

Addressing the Challenges of Tactical Information Management in Net-Centric Systems With DDS

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