Enabling Dynamic Interoperability with Multiple Community of Interest (COI) Systems

摘要

A range of Community of Interest (COI) Infospheres and systems is being independently developed and deployed by separate elements of U. S. forces and potential coalition partners. Because future operations will increasingly rely on seamless exchange of information between coalition partners, it is critical that all tactical and command elements be able to dynamically interact with these diverse systems. Solving this issue requires that each network element (platform, commander, war-fighter, etc.) be able to span, dynamically join and leave different COI systems as operational requirements dictate. The COI Interoperability Agent (CIA) is the centerpiece of our solution. It will enable each battle space entity to join, interact with, and leave multiple COIs. Each CIA consists of a common core containing the Information Router, COI Initiator (COIN) factory, Platform Initiator (PIN) factory, and Security Manager Components along with one or more platform modules and COI modules. Bi-directional information flow is directed by the Information Router. The COIN enables dynamic connection to a COI. A COIN consists of two parts: 1) a Java Jar file containing the COI Module code establishing a COI connection and 2) a data component that configures the COI Module. The CIA uses the COIN factory to load and configure new COI Modules. The PIN factory fills a similar role for Platform Modules. The Platform Module contains code to link to a specific tactical entity. The CIA concept provides a path for the war-fighter to dynamically connect to multiple COIs without a priori knowledge of COIs that will be needed.