Designing a common interchange format for unit data using the Command and Control information exchange data model (C2IEDM) and XSLT

Abstract

A common problem between Military applications and operators is the consistent and meaningful exchange of data. Currently, several models and simulations exist for the purposes of training and analyzing military data. Due to the absence of an agreed-upon standard with which to represent unit data, much is lost during interchange and applications are not maximized. This thesis is a step towards a solution. Extensible Markup Language (XML) technology has been widely accepted as a standard for representing information in such a way that it is self-documenting, self-validating and platform independent. By using the Command and Control Information Exchange Data Model (C2IEDM), formerly known as Generic Hub, and XML it is possible to develop a representation of unit data that is extensible and broadly useable by tactical systems and human operators alike. This thesis approaches the problem exploring the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) and the Extensible Modeling Simulation Framework (XMSF) as possible overarching architectural concepts for a global solution. The C2IEDM is used as the core data interchange model for this research and applies XML technologies, schema and the Extensible Stylesheet Language for Transformations (XSLT) to derive a formatted data representation that is acceptable within the Flexible Asymmetric Simulation Technologies (FAST) Toolbox. The transformation example serves as template for other simulation programs to follow for interchange through the common base model. This thesis shows that by using a common data representation like C2IEDM coupled with the power of XML and XSLT, unit information can be transformed and interchanged between applications. In order to accomplish this, an extensive analysis is done on recently performed and ongoing research as well as the development of exemplars to show how the proposed process is completed. The result of this work is a transformation of unit data extracted from an example C2IEDM instance file that is compliant with the schema for an actual unit order of battle tool used for modeling and simulation.