1 / 7

Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt, DARPA/ITO

Thoughts on Maintaining IT Superiority in the Face of Commoditization Monday, October 6, 2014. Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt, DARPA/ITO. Middleware, Frameworks, & Components. Distributed systems increasingly must reuse commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware & software

dalila
Download Presentation

Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt, DARPA/ITO

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Thoughts on Maintaining IT Superiority in the Face of CommoditizationMonday, October 6, 2014 Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt, DARPA/ITO

  2. Middleware, Frameworks, & Components • Distributed systems increasingly must reuse commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware & software • i.e., COTS is essential to R&D success High-performance, real-time, fault-tolerant, and secure systems Patterns & Pattern Languages Adaptive & reflective autonomous distributed embedded systems Power-aware ad hoc, mobile, distributed, & embedded systems Open-source & Standards Addressing the COTS “Crisis” • However, this trend presents many vexing R&D challenges for mission-critical DoD systems, e.g., • Inflexibility and lack of QoS • Security & global competition Why DARPA should care: • Despite IT commodization, progress in COTS hardware & software is often not applicable for mission-critical DoD distributed embedded systems • Recent advances in COTS software technology can help to fundamentally reshape distributed embedded system R&D

  3. Historically, mission-critical apps were built directly atop hardware & OS The domain-specific services layer is where system integrators can provide the most value & derive the most benefits Early COTS middleware lacked: • QoS specification & enforcement • Real-time features & optimizations • Layered resource management • Transparent power management The Evolution of COTS • This was extremely tedious, error-prone, & costly over system life-cycles • Standards-based COTS middleware helps: • Leverage hardware/software technology advances • Evolve to new environments & requirements There are multiple COTS layers & research/ business opportunities Advanced R&D has address some, but by no means all, of these issues

  4. Consequences of COTS & IT Commoditization • More emphasis on integration rather than programming • Increased technology convergence & standardization • Mass market economies of scale for technology & personnel • More disruptive technologies & global competition • Lower priced--but often lower quality--hardware & software components • The decline of internally funded R&D • Potential for complexity cap in next-generation complex systems Not all trends bode well for long-term competitiveness of traditional R&D leaders Ultimately, competitiveness will depend upon longer-term R&D efforts on complex distributed & embedded systems

  5. The DARPA/ITO Embedded Systems Family of Programs • MoBIES • Design technology & software CAD • SEC • Hybrid, adaptive, control & computation • ARMS • Adaptive & reflective middleware • Quorum • Quality-of-service & translucent layers • PCES • Composable embedded systems • NEST • Deeply networked embedded systems • PCA • Polymorphous computing architecture

  6. Standards-based QoS-enabled Middleware:Pluggable service & micro-protocol components & reusable “semi-complete” application frameworks Patterns and Pattern Languages: Generate software architectures by capturing recurring structures & dynamics & by resolving design forces Revolutionary changes in software process:Open-source, refactoring, extreme programming (XP), advanced V&V techniques How DARPA is Making a Difference in COTS • Why middleware-centric reuse works • Hardware advances • e.g., faster CPUs & networks • Software/system architecture advances • e.g., inter-layer optimizations & meta-programming mechanisms • Economic necessity • e.g., global competition for customers & engineers

  7. Concluding Remarks • There will be little or no incentive for industry to improve COTS hardware & software as long as: • Most users emphasize price & features over quality & scalability • Vendors continue to make $$$ selling lower-quality products inexpensively & en masse • There’s no credible competition or alternatives • Fundamental R&D funding levels continue to decline relative to venture capital • How DARPA can help the US maintain IT superiority • Ensure credible competition & alternatives, e.g., • Support R&D to evolve the confidence of commodity IT • Guide, rather than follow (or ignore) COTS maturation & standardization • Raise the bar for DoD contractors who participate in DARPA R&D programs • Stabilize funding of fundamental IT R&D challenges for complex systems

More Related