Sensor Network Architecture: Information, Control, and Behavior Definitions for Large-Scale or Systems-of-Systems Testing

摘要

This article envisions a plug-and-play architecture for test and evaluation that will allow engineers to rapidly and robustly define and configure test environments and scenarios. The architecture described here is based on a layered functional decomposition of the three aspects of test: information flow, control flow, and behavior. These individual layered decompositions are presented first, then as an integrated technical reference model. Having an integrated technical reference model is crucial to developing affordable and robust systems that are self-aware, selfhealing, and adaptable within a resource-constrained environment. Having these capabilities will become increasingly important as test scenarios become increasingly complex, such as distributed system-of-systems testing or as information volume becomes increasingly more demanding, yet unpredictable, as in the case of continuous test during operational missions. This work is presented as a natural extension of the military's Network Centric Warfare model.