usw-xml Working Group Next-Generation USW Interoperability using Extensible Markup Language (XML)

1. Don Brutzman USW Academic Committee Chair Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Monterey California Mike Grimley NAVSEA Warfare Centers - Newport Newport Rhode Island usw-xml Working Group Next-Generation USW Interoperability using Extensible Markup Language (XML) 13 September 2006 NDIA Undersea Warfare Symposium, SUBASE Groton Connecticut

2. Topics • Structuring for success • Establishing interoperability using XML • Intellectual property rights (IPR),Open Technology Development (OTD) • FY2006 project quicklooks • Tactical Assessment Markup Language (TAML) • Semantic Web • JC3IEDM, Joint Tactical Chat (JTC) in Trident Warrior 06 • Others • Conclusions and next-step goals

3. Structuring for success

4. Bottom line up front • XML needed for external data interoperability • Excellent progress on • Tactical Assessment Markup Language (TAML) • Numerous technical topics • GIG repository & COI, DON CIO XML standards • More work needed to mainstream usw-xml • USW-DSS • XML design patterns and requirements for OA

5. Charter • The usw-xml working group is improving Undersea Warfare (USW) interoperability using Extensible Markup Language (XML) tagsets for system data interchange. • Cooperative collaboration between many stakeholders is needed to achieve good interoperability.

6. Background • Sponsored by NAVSEA PEO IWS for Undersea Warfare Decision Support System (USW-DSS), Fleet ASW Command for A-TAS, and others • Formed in order to support USW efforts to establish coherent battlespace visualization capabilities for network-centric undersea warfare • Creating a harmonized DON XML Naming and Design Rules (NDR) compliant superset of existing USW tactical vocabularies • Mike Grimley now leading definition of NDR 2.0

7. Motivation • Many XML technical capabilities can enable significantly improved capabilities for • USW system interoperability • Connecting legacy systems, diverse partners • USW Decision Support System, other projects • We expect this work to broadly benefit the Navy, industry and scientific community. • Need further integration with USW systems to mainstream these successes.

8. Sponsors • NAVSEA PEO IWS 5, Undersea Systems • USW Decision Support System (USW-DSS) program. • Carrier Tactical Support System (CVTSC) • Fleet ASW Command • Tactical Assessment Markup Language (TAML) for ASW Tactical Assessment System (A-TAS) • Other sponsors & participants are welcome. • Many programs represented by mail-list members • Discussion with many programs, but few engage • Perhaps due to lack of requirements?

9. Participation • Forum for effective collaboration and shared effort • Voluntary contributions and dialog, mutually beneficial • Broad participation is welcome • Navy, Industry, Scientific community • U.S. military, civil service and defense contractors • Allied partners a future possibility, under review • Two levels of participation • Contributing participants, 1 teleconferences per week • Listeners: discussions on best practices, problem resolution, announcements of progress, new capabilities

10. Mailing list • Open subscription policy, moderated • Password protected (only distribute by voice) • Treat as For Official Use Only (FOUO) • Hosted by NPS on MOVES Institute server • mailto: usw-xml@MovesInstitute.org • List information: https://www.movesinstitute.org/mailman/listinfo/usw-xml • Email archives: https://www.movesinstitute.org/pipermail/usw-xml Currently 121 subscribers

11. Website • Password protected (only distribute by voice) • Access control: For Official Use Only (FOUO) • Hosted by NPS • http://web.nps.navy.mil/~brutzman/usw-xml.html • Project includes multiple web servers • support advanced XML server capabilities • support state-of-the-art technical experimentation • demonstrate exemplar configurations

12. Weekly meeting • One hour meeting per week, each Tuesday • Time: 07/0800 Hawaii, 1000 pacific, 1300 eastern • Second meeting for developers each Friday • Audio bridge for call-in provided by NPS • Video teleconferencing (VTC) as well, when facilities and video bridge are available • NPS, NAVSEA DC. SPAWAR San Diego, Hawaii • Minutes posted to mailing list, kept online

13. Establishing interoperability using XML Supporting diverse legacy systems

14. How to connect already-built systems • Keep the original internal data model • Often can’t change internals easily anyway • Map to shared, external data model • Build data/message converters that wrap inputs/outputs of established/legacy system • Rephrased: keep application programming interfaces (APIs) and middleware of choice in each system, no need for monolithic solution

15. XML is for structuring data XML looks a bit like HTML XML is text, but isn't meant to be read XML is verbose by design XML is a family of technologies XML is new, but not that new XML leads HTML to XHTML XML is modular XML is basis for RDF and the Semantic Web XML is license-free, platform-independent and well-supported Extensible Markup Language XML in 10 Pointshttp://www.w3.org/XML/1999/XML-in-10-points 350+ member companies & institutions in World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) already understand the business case

16. Use XML to interconnect • Legacy systems should map data structures to common XML definitions • Conversion is usually then straightforward • Multiple APIs and tools available that can match to different software systems • Online web services for testing • Need both classified, unclassified examples • Broad visibility, better scrutiny, reduced costs

17. Use XML to decouple program schedules • Build archive of sample implementation code • Reduce barriers to entry • Enable reuse when desired • Best practices and tricky problems exposed • Build archive of common examples • Make testing easier • Conformance suite as testable interoperability • XML data availability for exercise results • Make required for rehearsal, upcoming events

18. Completed XML speeds progress • Took over a year to harmonize multiple requirements into single TAML standard • Took an afternoon to autogenerate Web Services Description Language (WSDL) interfaces, expose them via an online server • A million pounds of XML documentation and training are publicly available

19. Process for creating common vocabulary • Develop common view (description) of world • What objects/classes exist in C3S world? • What properties do objects/classes have? • Agree on the representation of these objects • XML schema worked well in guiding dialog • Map to common XML vocabulary once established • Evaluate the data/information needs of your particular application/message • Update model, repeat as necessary • Working group builds standards consensus

20. Archiving data is increasingly important • “Old” legacy programs not really maintainable • Past capabilities either repurposed or lost • Not a showstopper problem with source code, but collected data is collateral damage • Archiving data in well-structured, well-defined format keeps it accessible and usable • Even by programs that aren’t written yet • Obvious need but typically unsupported…

21. Intellectual property rights (IPR),Open Technology Development (OTD)

22. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) • Must be predeclared in order to enable effective group efforts • Otherwise long-running efforts might short circuit • Cannot afford tainting with IP/patent encumbrances • Participation requirement for Royalty Free (RF) use of any patented tech: • Follow guidance DoN CIO XML Business Standards Council • Follow policy adopted from standards organizations (W3C, Web3D consortia)

23. Open Technology Development (OTD) • Open Technology Development (OTD) • Important new resource for program planning • Office of Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Advanced Systems and Concepts (ASC) • Report online at http:/www.acq.osd.mil/asc • Government business case for long-term program development • Open source • Open standards • Government business-model success strategies

24. OTD report cover

25. FY2006 Progress

26. Activities and progress • Tactical Assessment Markup Language (TAML) • versions 1.0, 2.0 for tracks, weapons data • for ASW Tactical Assessment System (A-TAS) • Use of Semantic Web constructs for search, AI • NPS thesis by ENS Candace Childers USN • Joint C3 Information Exchange Data Model (JC3IEDM) xml-ization, distribution via chat • Joint Tactical Chat exercise, Trident Warrior • Others • Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) for binary compression • Autonomous Vehicle Command Language (AVCL)

27. Tactical Assessment Markup Language TAML 1.0, 2.0

28. TAML defined • The Tactical Assessment Markup Language (TAML) is the standard data language for transporting ASW Tactical Assessment System (A-TAS) data. • The TAML schema is DoN CIO certified as a positional and contact data schema. • TAML is a single data structure for the entire A-TAS data set making it more efficient to share information with other systems.

29. TAML high points • TAML represents tactical track information, context • Consensus representation by group implementers • Supports multiple programs • ASW Tactical Assessment System (A-TAS) • USW Decision Support System (USW-DSS) – not yet • Carrier Tactical Support Center (CVTSC) • (Further system/community connections possible) • TAML 2.0 adding weapons, next is likely sensors

30. TAML schema excerpt

31. TAML schema 2

32. Sample TAML excerpt

33. Current TAML Capabilities, Products in Use $ • Centralized Repository for all ASW Exercises and Operations • SIPRNET based website access for global distribution • Automated Data Collection Agents • Data sent directly to A-TAS • Auto-Ingest of over 30 source formats • Auto-Logging of IRC Chat • Web-based interactive exercise replay • Blue Locating Overlays • Fused Contact Information • Sensor Location • Platform Position • Operating Areas & Waterspace Management • Narratives • Web-Based Workflow system • Exercise/Event detail management • Data collate/manipulate • Analytical Comment

34. Other TAML Capabilities, Projects in Development $ • Web-based 3D Exercise Replay • Built on X3D technology in collaboration with NPS • User friendly controls • Near Real-time display ready • Tactical Assessment Markup Language (TAML) • Product of USW-XML Working Group • PEO-IWS and FLTASWCOM Collaboration • Common XML Standard for ASW Data Collection • GCCS-M Agent • Accept auto-forwarded track from COP into A-TAS via SIPRNET • AEGIS LAN Data Extraction • SQQ-89 D-LAN data fed into A-TAS as TAML XML via SIPRNET • Environmental integration • METOC Visualization Overlays on Geoplot • Non-Acoustic Analysis on Contacts/Opportunities • Acoustic Analysis on Contact/Opportunities • Sound Velocity Profiles

35. Semantic Web study using TAML NPS thesis by ENS Candace Childers USN

36. Thesis Goal • Explore and illustrate use cases for applying the Semantic Web to TAML • Produce Practical Examples • TAML querying • Inferring data from TAML documents • Contact Classification • Explore ability to support multiple XML vocabularies while achieving semantic interoperability for tactical use cases

37. What is the Semantic Web? • A Set of XML Languages • Each layer adds more power for machines to process, understand, and make decisions based on the data • The semantics and rules for handling the data are stored in the data • Not hard-coded in a software program • Thus more flexible, reliable over long term

38. Increasing Semantics, search

39. Semantic Web “layer cake”

40. Tactical Use Cases • Semantic Interoperability • Automated mappings • Query over multiple domains • Automated Reasoning • Validation of semantics in XML documents • TAML Contact Classification Ontology Goal • Demonstrate power and limitations of OWL language and current reasoners applied to a tactical problem

41. TAML Contact Classification Ontology • Explicitly Model the concept of Contact • Properties and Class definition • Define Contact Classifications • (ie. Friendly, hostile, etc.) • Use a reasoner to determine the classification of a Contact • Terms are taken from the TAML Schema

42. Protégé screen snapshot

43. TAML, Semantic Web Conclusions • The Semantic Web languages are promising for adding meaning to data and increasing machine automation • Protégé simplifies the ontology building process • Lots of potential applications • (Contact Classification just one of them) • Better SWRL support is needed • OWL is too limited to say everything we want • Future work for Semantic Web implementations • Trust, Proof, Security, Higher-Order Rules

44. Recommendations for Future Work • TAML Contact Classification Ontology • Build an application around the ontology • Involve Domain Experts in the Definition/Rule writing • Semantic Web Applications for DoD • System Interoperability • Automatic processing and analysis of data • Inference Ability – machines provide useful information

45. Joint C3 Information Exchange Data Model (JC3IEDM) xml-ization of C2 data model, distribution via XML-based chat during Trident Warrior 06

46. JTC slideset JC3IEDM -enhanced Tactical Collaboration (JTC) Quick-look Report Office of the Secretary of Defense AT&L Naval Undersea Warfare Center Naval Postgraduate School June 2006

47. Concept JC3IEDM http://www.mip-site.org Multilateral Interoperability Programme • Joint Consultation Command and Control Information Exchange Data Model (JC3IEDM ) • NATO STANAG 5525 (in ratification) • Automated C2 Interface Exchange Mechanism Supporting Liaison and Automation • A very rich representation of the COP enabling commanders work together • Country, system, Service, application, process, technology, vendor neutral Information Exchange Data Model • All commanders need these battlespace basics • Supports War Operations, Crisis Response Operations and Joint Ops High-Level View

48. TW06 Findings C2 / COP • JTC demonstrated: • Maritime use of JC3IEDM (an international C2 interoperability standard): • US / Coalition OPTASKs & COP • Agile, rapid, and efficient collaborative planning • Clear and concise communications • Man-Man, Man-Machine, Machine-Machine • Distribution of XML objects as XMPP chat payloads • From NUWC, NPS to Bonhomme Richard at sea

49. Assessment goal: Effective Collaboration • Effective planning collaboration requires more than asynchronous publish and subscribe methods, e.g. Office and chat capability. • Hypothesis: Planning will benefit from collaborative “teamwork” tools that enable agile synchronous structured information exchanges. • Interactive map/charts and template forms will provide an easy to use data entry GUI for structure data • The use of structured C2 data model enables improved teamwork: M2M, P2M, and M2M

50. JTC Exercise Operational Threads DeliberateIndividual Planning / Approval JTC Chart /Map Query for Existing Tasking JC3IEDM Store Post/Approve New Tasking Collaborative Planning Establish Need to Collaborate Chat Chat Establish Planning Session Create / Modify Task Publish JC3IEDM Store JTC Chart /Map JTC Chart /Map COP Monitoring JTC Chart /Map CWS Service Query/Subscribe for Tracks Query for Existing Tasking JC3IEDM Store Not evaluated due to lack of availability of CWS site.