Functional specification for a Generic C3I Workstation

Abstract

As fiscal impacts continue to make the U.S. Navy's budget increasingly austere, diligent efforts are being made to enhance the Navy's warfighting capability and streamline its operations. In this environment, it is necessary to efficiently produce computer systems that meet fleet requirements and do so at minimal cost. This thesis illustrates a methodology that integrates rapid prototyping with formal requirements analysis of a Generic C3I workstation. Traditional requirements analysis and software engineering principles tend to misplace emphasis on the completeness and the comprehensiveness of initial software modeling. Using formal specification tools and techniques, rapid prototyping provides prototype developers with constraints, while deliberately omitting up-front detailed descriptions. Precise constraints are refined through the evolution of requirements in the light of empirical performance and demonstrable functionality. A network capable software system for a Generic C3I Workstation, with embedded decision-support systems and robust message passing and processing, would offer functionality beyond that which is traditionally used in fleet operations. Through automation advancements, C3I information processing could be performed more quickly, efficiently, and accurately. In this thesis, an abstract model of a high-speed, networkable, generic C3I workstation is presented. This model defines the fundamental goals for the experimental modeling and development of a large, hard-real-time Ada software system for the U.S. Navy.