A Web-based Distributed Simulation System Christopher Taewan Ryu Computer Science Department California State University, Fullerton

Overview Project background HLA A web-based distributed simulation Implementation approach Future work

Project Background Telecommunication Forecaster Predictor (TFP) – Performs analysis on communications between DSN sites and spacecrafts Web-TFP (Web version of TFP) – No program installation or upgrade – No data updating and reconfiguration – No license – TFP anywhere and anytime with a browser

Linux or Solaris Server Architecture of Web-TFP Client Apache PHP/ JAVA Matlab CGI or DWR Matlab Server TFP Web Browser

5 Input Parameters, data files, and program files Operation Select a mission  Interface  Run  Receive output

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Computer Simulation Importance of Computer Simulation – For significant cost saving, better control and understanding of given objects and phenomenon Defense, medical, entertainment, etc. – Important in building many mission-critical systems such as space mission and defense applications--high cost and reliability. Challenges – Developing a realistic complex simulation system requires tremendous amount of time and effort – Many simulation systems in different organizations (e.g., DoD, NASA have developed various simulation systems in the past). – Interoperability among different systems – Reusability

High Level Architecture (HLA) First developed by the DoD – To support interoperability and reuse HLA has been standardized for distributed computer simulations under IEEE Standard – Any system that conform to the standard can work with any HLA implementation based on the same standard Several open-source implementations of HLA such as Open HLA (OHLA) and Portico are available (in Java, C++). – Portico fully conform to IEEE Standard 1516.

HLA Framework RTI is the fundamental component of HLA – Provides a set of software services that are necessary to support federates to coordinate their operations and data exchange during a runtime execution. Simulations don’t communicate with each other directly. All communications among simulations are managed by RTI – providing high scalability, interoperability, and reusability of components. …

USE Case Diagram for Our Project

Architecture Proxy federate is to support Web service (implementation of SOA) Web service and HLA provides different levels of interoperability – Scalability and performance HLAGUI (Java Web Start) Simulation Monitor (Java 3D) Web Service RTI Simulation Controller Federate Proxy Federate

Deployment Environment

Environment Setup Portico for RTI – Can run on Windows, Linux, or Mac platforms. Apache Tomcat Apache Axis Java 3D Target simulations, Internet, Browser

Detailed Deployment

Interfaces Simulation objects are be added using the console

Simulation in Operation

Advantages and Disadvantages of Web Services in HLA Advantages – Substantially larger set of development environment and languages (that can be supported by HLA) – Easier to deploy HLA federates in WAN environment using HTTP protocol (stateless) – Larger scale of interoperability – Can you web browser as interface (all advantages of web browser)— particularly important to our project Disadvantages – Lower performance than C++ or Java API – May require additional knowledge on Web service and HTTP

Future Work Migrate the Web-TFP or other related systems to the HLA-based platform Provide 3D interfaces for users for better interaction

Thank you.