An XML based system of systems discrete event simulation communications framework

Abstract

Simulations play an important role in complex systems development. In a System of Systems (SoS) consisting of heterogeneous independent systems (as is the case with cooperative robotics, for example), effective communication among the systems is essential. This paper extends the application of Extensible Markup Language (XML) as a method of wrapping data without imposing other restrictions on the systems in an SoS. The effort to model and implement XML communication among members of an SoS is based on Discrete Event Specification (DEVS) and uses DEVSJAVA software as the simulator. An XML based SoS simulation framework is presented by a robust threat detection scenario involving multiple heterogeneous systems working cooperatively to accomplish the goal. This framework will also support agent-in-the-loop simulations using real time DEVS modeling in future work.