Crosstalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering. Volume 29, Number 3, May/June 2016

Abstract

So why is this issue of CrossTalk dedicated to the topic of Integration and Interoperability? First we must understand that more and more of the systems fielded by the U.S. Department of Defense(DoD) are more and more by design becoming Systems of Systems (SoSs). This includes weapons systems, command and control systems, large-scale information management systems, just to name a few. A SoS is different from a single system. It is actually a set of components that when separated are still regarded as systems themselves. This means that each of these individual systems remain operational after the SoS they are associated with is disassembled. Further, each of these individual systems is independently managed. This means they can and do operate as individual entities and this continues regardless of the SoS of which they are a component. With the idea of a SoS in mind we realize there must be processes and properties defined that allow these individual systems to operate together and exchange information. To this end and of equal importance we must look at Integration and Interoperability. Starting with Integration we have the processes for creating a larger and more complex entity by combining or adding individual parts. It is a key step during development during which subsystems and other software components are combined. This produces a larger system in which many systems are combined to produce a SoS.Next is Interoperability as a property of a system or SoS. It refers to the ability to exchange information among many system elements. For SoSs, the needed information exchange is in support of end-to-end SoS capabilities. The integration process produces an integrated system, meaning that the systems elements must work together to achieve required system functions. These elements working together are then defined as interoperable.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1056408

Entities

People

  • Justin T. Hill

Organizations

  • Ogden Air Logistics Complex

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agile Software Development
  • Air Force
  • Application Software
  • Business Administration
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Control Systems
  • Cybersecurity
  • Information Systems
  • Management Personnel
  • Network Science
  • Operating Systems
  • Systems Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Web Browsers

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Software Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control