ModelEngine: An Application Framework for Integrating Simulation Models into HLA federations

摘要

The Joint Distributed Engineering Plant (JDEP) Infrastructure Build (IBuild) is a High Level Architecture (HLA) federation designed to simulate and analyze sensor and communication systems. Developing HLA federates can be a complicated task for which simulation model developers do not always have sufficient expertise. The ModelEngine is an application framework designed to facilitate integration of simulation models within HLA federations. Models are developed as separate, pluggable components that follow a generic interface provided by the ModelEngine, allowing the ModelEngine to wrap an HLA federate around each model. Since the ModelEngine handles the specific aspects of running models as federates, model developers can focus their attention on model data and execution requirements. Decoupling models from communication mechanisms also provides the flexibility to utilize different communication protocols without changing models, enhancing testability and reuse. This paper discusses the ModelEngine architecture, its design objectives, and examples of its use.