Web services integration on the fly

Abstract

In a net-centric environment, data, tools and people operate in a distributed network. A key research question is whether a software framework can become so usable and intelligent that integration of web services can be done on-the-fly as self-integration. Given data, software agents and supporting software infrastructure, web services integration on the fly means that human coding is not required to integrate web services into a Web Service Architecture. This thesis explores a generic, flexible, scalable, usable and intelligent web services architecture framework that enables sharing and integration of data and tools on the fly. This software framework is a key enabler for systems of systems architecture in a net-centric environment. The envisioned Web Service Architecture Intelligent Framework (WSAIF) is applied to the Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation (MOVES) domain. Specifically, the framework is applied to provide the capability to search and retrieve visualization models and their matching behavior models in a collaborative environment. This thesis elaborates on the design, implementation, deployment and test results of web services for the Scenario Authoring and Visualization for Advanced Graphical Environments (SAVAGE) archive, which is a set of web-based 3D graphics models plus corresponding agent-behaviour models. SAVAGE web services can perform both "find" and "get" operations for models in the archives. SAVAGE web services operations can be composed to form business processes. These business processes can be expressed using modeling techniques such as Web Service Business Process Execution Language (WSBPEL). Future capabilities include semantic activities using Web Ontology Language for Services (OWL-S). The study and comparison of various modeling techniques that enable integration, orchestration and adaptation of composable web services is mentioned. The design and implementation approach matches industry best practices for information architectures. The modeling techniques are essential to and will eventually be used in WSAIF Orchestration and Adaptation components. This thesis further explores how WSAIF software agents, modeling data and supporting software infrastructure can someday enable web services integration on the fly and concludes with recommendations for future work.