An investigation into the coupling of interactive and batch network services in COINS.

Abstract

Networks were conceived in the 1950's, born in the 1960's and grew up in the 1970's. Today they constitute a technology with applications in a myriad of disciplines. Information sharing has been one of the areas greatly aided by computer networks. The Community On-Line Intelligence System (COINS) is an information sharing network in th-a U.S. intelligence community. CCINS offers batch and interactive services which are separate and independant of each other. The information acquisition process has elements of interactive and batch. The design of an information sharing network should provide the foundation to accommodate this two-phased activity. This thesis introduces the concept of collaboration between these autonomous network services, proposes a re-allocation of network capacity in CCINS and examines how this new scheme can improve performance and efficiency from a user and managerial perspective.