Web Services Discovery across Heterogenous Military Networks

Johnsen et al

soa services service oriented tactical edge networking

@article{johnsen:ieee-comm2010,
  title={Web Services Discovery across Heterogenous Military Networks},
  author={Frank T. Johnsen and Trude Hafs\OE e and Anders Eggen and
          Carsten Griwodz and P\aa l Halvorsen},
  journal={{IEEE} Communications},
  year={2010},
  month={October},
  volume={48},
  number={10},
  pages={84--90},
}

[ Overview slides ]

NATO standardizing on Web Services connecting federation of systems

Those systems will encompass several different types of networks

• Different data rates, error rates, disconnect rate
• Need to apply different service discovery mechanisms
  • Fixed networks will use UDDI, ebXML

Discovery provides late binding capability

Service identification/matching can be based on multiple mechanisms

• URI/label or semantic description
• Decentralized, P2P, or centralized registry

Design time vs runtime discovery

Service might be known in advance, and discovery is simply trying to locate it

• More advanced notion requires composition, etc.

Three abstract levels in network

• Strategic: Fixed infrastructure, hundreds to thousands of nodes and services
• Tactical deployed: Fixed and on-the-quick infrastructure, hundreds to thousands of nodes and services
• Tactical mobile: Very disadvantaged wireless networks, four to twenty nodes, small set of services
  • Supporting mobility, robustness more important than scalability

Monitoring service liveness is important

Three main approaches to discovery across heterogenous network

• Adaptive service discovery: One mechanism used across entire network
• Layered service discovery: Common abstraction layer built on top of several mechanisms
• Service discovery gateways: Most appropriate mechanism used on each network, bridged together
  • Since different hardware and software is used, they most likely need a gateway anyway

Article's software includes periodic service advertisements, caching, location information piggybacking, compression

Of note:

• STANAG 5527, interface for friendly force tracking