Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Software and Systems Modeling
Published in: Software and Systems Modeling 2/2017

22-08-2015 | Regular Paper

Model-based tool support for Tactical Data Links: an experience report from the defence domain

Authors: Suraj Ajit, Chris Holmes, Julian Johnson, Dimitrios S. Kolovos, Richard F. Paige

Published in: Software and Systems Modeling | Issue 2/2017

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

The Tactical Data Link (TDL) allows the exchange of information between cooperating platforms as part of an integrated command and control (\(C^2\)) system. Information exchange is facilitated by adherence to a complex, message-based protocol defined by document-centric standards. In this paper, we report on a recent body of work investigating migration from a document-centric to a model-centric approach within the context of the TDL domain, motivated by a desire to achieve a positive return on investment. The model-centric approach makes use of the Epsilon technology stack and provides a significant improvement to both the level of abstraction and rigour of the network design. It is checkable by a machine and, by virtue of an MDA-like approach to the separation of domains and model transformation between domains, is open to integration with other models to support more complex workflows, such as by providing the results of interoperability analyses in human-readable domain-specific reports conforming to an accepted standard.
previous article Using contexts to extract models from code
next article Contract-based modeling and verification of timed safety requirements within SysML

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe




 

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
Footnotes
1
The IER describes the kinds of information to be exchanged between specific platforms to meet an operational requirement.
 
2
In some circumstances, a platform may be able to receive on multiple NPGs concurrently.
 
7
Since this work was carried out, Epsilon has been augmented with Eclipse-based debugging tools.
 
Literature
1.
US Department of Defense, Tactical Data Link (TDL) 16 Message Standard, MIL-STD-6016C, (2004)
2.
NATO Standardization Agency, Standardization Agreement, Tactical Data Link Exchange - Link 16, (STANAG) 5516, Ed. 4
3.
Asenstorfer, J., Cox, T., Wilksch, D.: Tactical Data Link Systems and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) - Technology Developments and Interoperability Issues, DSTO-TR-1470 (2004)
4.
5.
Joint Data Link Management Organisation (JDLMO), Network UKJP0005B, Initialisation Data Catalogue, Network Design Cell, Final Release Version number 1.0 (2008)
6.
Tactical Data Link Network Design Station, TNDS Interface Control Document, Issue 2.9 (UK), HP Enterprise Services Defence & Security UK Ltd., (2011)
7.
OMG, Human-Usable Textual Notation (HUTN) Specification, Version 1.0, (2004)
8.
OMG, Object Constraint Language, Version 2.2, (2010)
9.
Parr, T.: The Definitive ANTLR Reference: Building Domain-Specific Languages, Pragmatic Programmers, (2007)
10.
11.
Holzner, S.: Ant: The Definitive Guide, O’Reilly, (2005)
12.
13.
Buschmann, F., Meunier, R., Rohnert, H., Sommerlad, P., Stal, M.: A System of Patterns: Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture. Wiley, New York (1996)
14.
15.
Johnson, J., Holmes, C.: Improving System Dependability via a Model-Based Approach to Standards, MIT BAE Systems Fall Conference, October 30–31, (2007)
16.
Johnson, J., Holmes, C.: Model-based approach to a complex requirement-design domain: TDLs, 7th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research 2009 (CSER2009), Loughborough University, April 20–23, (2009)
17.
18.
Clayberg, E., Rubel, D.: Building Commercial Quality Plug-Ins, 2nd edn. Addison-Wesley, Boston (2006)
19.
Kolovos, Dimitrios S., Paige, Richard F., Polack, Fiona A.C.: Agile Model Editing in the Eclipse Modeling Framework using Executable Metamodel Annotations. In Proceedings of 1st Towers of Models Workshop, TOOLS EUROPE (2007)
20.
Steinberg, D., Budinsky, F., Paternostro, M., Merks, E.: EMF: Eclipse Modelling Framework. Eclipse Series, second edition. Addison-Wesley Professional, Boston (2008)
21.
Kolovos, Dimitrios S., Paige, Richard F., Polack, Fiona A.C.: The Epsilon Object Language. In Proceedings of European Conference in Model Driven Architecture (EC-MDA) 2006, vol. 4066 of LNCS, pages 128–142, Bilbao, Spain, (2006)
22.
Kolovos, Dimitrios S., Paige, Richard F., Polack, Fiona A.C.: A Framework for Composing Modular and Interoperable Model Management Tasks. In Proceedings of Workshop on Model Driven Tool and Process Integration (MDTPI), ECMDA, Berlin, Germany, (2008)
23.
Sorroche, J.: Modeling in tactical data links. In: Tolk, A., (ed.) Engineering Principles of Combat Modeling and Distributed Simulation, pp. 537–578. Wiley (2012)
24.
Gon Kim, T., Moon, I.: Combat modeling using the DEVS formalism. In: Tolk, A., (ed.) Engineering Principles of Combat Modeling and Distributed Simulation, pp. 479–510. Wiley (2012)
25.
Zeigler, B.P. (ed.): Multifaceted Modeling and Discrete Event Simulation. Academic press, London (1984)
26.
Kim, T., G., Zeigler, B., P.: The DEVS Formalism: Hierarchical Modular System Specification in an Object Oriented Framework. In: Proceedings of the 19th Conference on Winter Simulation - WSC ’87, pp. 559–566, New York, (1987)
27.
Zeigler, BP., Kim, TG., Praehofer, H.: Theory of Modeling and Simulation: Integrating Discrete Event and Continuous Complex Dynamic Systems, San Diego, [Calif.]: Academic, (2000)
28.
29.
Mak, E., Mittal, S., Hwang, M., Nutaro, J.J.: Automated Link-16Testing using the discrete event system specification and extensiblemarkup language. J. Def. Model. Simul.Appl. Methodol. Technol. 7, 39–62 (2010)
30.
Mohagheghi, P., Gilani, W., Stefanescu, A., Fernandez, M.A.: An empirical study of the state of the practice and acceptance of model-driven engineering in four industrial cases. Empir. Softw. Eng. 18, 89–116 (2013)CrossRef
31.
Mohagheghi, P., Dehlen, V.: Where is the proof? A review of experiences from applying MDE in industry. Model Driven Archit. Found. Appl. 5095, 432–443 (2008)CrossRef
32.
Mohagheghi, P., Fernandez, M., Martell, J, Fritzsche, M., Gilani, W.: MDE Adoption in Industry: Challenges and Success Criteria. In: Chaudron, M. V. (ed.), pp. 54–59. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg (2009)
33.
Mohagheghi, P., Gilani, W., Stefanescu, A., Fernandez, M.A., Nordmoen, B., Fritzsche, M.: Where does model-driven engineering help? Experiences from three industrial cases. Softw. Syst. Model. 12(3), 619–639 (2013)
34.
Evans, A., Fernandez, M.A., Mohagheghi, P.: Experiences of developing a network modeling tool using the eclipse environment. Model Driven Archit. Found. Appl. 5562, 301–312 (2009)CrossRef
35.
Kirstan, S., Zimmermann, J.: Evaluating costs and benefits of model-based development of embedded software systems in the car industry, Results of a qualitative case study. In: Proceedings Workshop C2M: EEMDD “from Code Centric to Model Centric: Evaluating the Effectiveness of MDD (ECMFA.2010), (2010)
36.
Hutchinson, J.: An Empirical Assessment of Model Driven Development in Industry, (2012)
37.
Torchiano, M., Tomassetti, F., Ricca, F., Tiso, A., Reggio, G.: Relevance, benefits, and problems of software modelling and model driven techniques—a survey in the Italian industry. J. Syst. Softw. 86(8), 2110–2126 (2013)
38.
Baker, P., Loh, S., Weil, F.: Model-driven engineering in a large industrial context-Motorola case study. In: ACM/IEEE 8th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems. LNCS, vol. 3713, pp. 476–491. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)
39.
Krogmann, K., Becker, S.: A case study on model-driven and conventional software development: the palladio editor. In: Software Engineering Workshops, vol. 106, pp. 169–176 (2007)
40.
Kapteijns, T., Jansen, S., Brinkkemper, S., Houet, H., Barendse, R.: A comparative case study of model driven development vs traditional development: the tortoise or the hare. In: 4th European Workshop on from Code Centric to Model Centric Software Engineering: Practices, Implications and ROI, Netherlands (2009)
41.
Karna, J., Tolvanen, J., Kelly, S.: Evaluating the use of domain-specific modeling in practice. In: Proceedings of the 9th OOPSLA Workshop on Domain-Specific Modeling, DSM, Florida, USA (2009)
42.
Texel, P., Williams, C.: Use Cases Combined with Booch, OMT, UML. Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River (1997)
43.
Kiczales, G., Lamping, J., Mendhekar, A., Maeda, C., Videira Lopes, C., Loingtier, J-M., Irwin, J.: Aspect-Oriented Programming. In: Proceedings of the European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP). Springer LNCS 1241, Finland (1997)
44.
Broy, M., Kirstan, S., Krcmar, H., Schatz, B.: What is the benefit of a model-based design of embedded software systems in the car industry? In: Rech, J. (ed.) Emerging Technologies for the Evolution and Maintenance of Software Models, pp.343–369. IGI Global, Hershey (2011)
45.
Hutchinson, J., Whittle, J., Rouncefield, M., Kristoffersen, S.: Empirical assessment of MDE in industry. ICSE, 471–480 (2011)
46.
Hutchinson, J., Rouncefield, M., Whittle, J.: Model-driven engineering practices in industry. ICSE 633–642 (2011)
47.
Hutchinson, J., Whittle, J., Rouncefield, M.: Model-driven engineering practices in industry: social, organizational and managerial factors that lead to success or failure. Sci. Comput. Program. 89, 144–161 (2014)CrossRef
48.
Whittle, J., Hutchinson, J., Rouncefield, M.: The state of practice in model-driven engineering. IEEE Softw. 31, 79–85 (2014)CrossRef
49.
Whittle, J., Hutchinson, J.: Mismatches between Industry Practice and Teaching of Model-Driven Software Development, MoDELS Workshops pp. 40–47 (2011)
Metadata
Title
Model-based tool support for Tactical Data Links: an experience report from the defence domain
Authors
Suraj Ajit
Chris Holmes
Julian Johnson
Dimitrios S. Kolovos
Richard F. Paige
Publication date
22-08-2015
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Software and Systems Modeling / Issue 2/2017
Print ISSN: 1619-1366
Electronic ISSN: 1619-1374
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10270-015-0480-2

Other articles of this Issue 2/2017

Software and Systems Modeling 2/2017 Go to the issue

Special Section Paper

On the complex nature of MDE evolution and its impact on changeability

Regular Paper

Proactive modeling: a new model intelligence technique

Special Section Paper

A taxonomy of tool-related issues affecting the adoption of model-driven engineering

Editorial

Models for the digital transformation

Regular Paper

Aspectual templates in UML

Special Section Paper

Teaching model-driven engineering from a relational database perspective

Premium Partner

    Image Credits