INTEROPERABILITY - Products

Capacities and Technology - Defense
The demand for NEC compatible systems comes from the Defense and Security sectors, in operational scenarios such as the following:

This type of scenario calls for cooperation between different forces and official bodies, both civil and military, normally in an environment of coalition at international level. This type of scenario calls for a change in the concept of instructions: it requires leaving behind the concept of Task Managed Operations (TMO in the NATO and EU terminology), and a change to Effect Based Operations (EBO).

The EBO procedure concept has led to the development of the concept of Network Based Operations (NBO).

An NBO scenario is underpinned by networks or information meshes, which make interoperability possible between the systems and their management. The objective is to manage to integrate the three main elements defined in any operation in several interlinking networks:

The objective is for the information to flow from the sensors to the actuators, with as little delay as possible.

In this scenario, the information is not derived from one single point, but rather from hundreds or thousands of independent information transmitters and receivers: aerial photographs, site position data, vehicles or encampments, situation forecasts, etc.. All this data is sent and received in real time, and the applications can filter them depending on the need for such information, in order to make coordinated actions.

Under EBO operations, since the end of the ‘90’s, development has been underway in the engineering concept of NETWORKED SYSTEMS (NEC, Network Enabled Capability, in Europe, or NCW, Network Centric Warfare, in the U.S.A.), where the engineering is focused not on the single, independent system but rather on the SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS, where the engineering should be centered on solving the following challenges:

In short, the trend in the sectors of Security and Defense is towards standardizing the NEC standard systems, thus putting in place the NBO operation doctrine.

All this has entailed a notable investment effort for Nextel Engineering in order to be able to adapt to this new reality. This investment has been focused on two main aspects:

Middleware Technologies
Nextel Engineering has communications logic middleware, based on the publication/subscription paradigm, compatible with the most recent standards (SOA, DDS, HLA, etc.) optimized for use on “Network Centric” systems.

In a NEC environment, the heterogeneity of the systems imposes encapsuling information flows and the very transport and distribution of data in a single component. This component is termed Middleware NEC or, commercially, NCWare, which makes it possible to abstract communications between the diverse systems, standardizing the interface and making the applications in the physical communication architecture independent.

The main objective of this middleware is to allow for interoperability between systems with heterogeneous interfaces (OMG DDS, OMG CORBA, IEEE HLA, Web Services (SOAP) and SQL/ODBC/JDBC):

In short, the Middleware technology of Nextel Engineering makes it possible to have a middleware with the capacity to integrate practically any type of C3 or simulation system now existing, since it offers the following types of logical interface for the applications with which they are to be connected:

These interfaces are available in several deployment versions, each being adapted for different types of HW configurations:

Development of Databases in real time (in memory)
The use of database managers “in memory” makes it possible to use relational databases in critical systems, with a performance far superior to that of the databases in disk. The use of relational databases in critical systems provides numerous advantages due to the potential of the SQL interface for consultation and processing of large volumes of data. These advantages are not always applied to critical systems due to delays and low performance rates given by given by traditional databases. Databases in memory make it possible to improve the current situation.

Development of Technologies Common Scenario Enabler
Techniques have been developed to make it possible to integrate all the information from sensors and support systems into the decision to make a Common Operational Scenario, in real time, able to provide the same information to all the nodes connected to the middleware. All the information is available for users on a common GIS system that will allow for a common geo-referenced view of all the data and elements of interest. Advanced personalization systems have been developed on this common scenario, making it possible to define rules and filters for each user so that each one is only presented with the relevant information.


Capacities and Technology - Civil

The NEC concept is directly applicable to crisis situation management, such as natural disasters, fire extinction, terrorist attack, civil co-operation, etc. In this field, the resources involved will be civil bodies and companies, but the needs and technology able to respond to the same does not differ substantially from those applicable to the field of defense. In fact, in certain types of crisis, the integration of military resources may be vital, it becoming increasingly necessary to use inter-operable technologies between the civil and military fields (the UME is one such example).

Also, current training in crisis situation management is carried out in exercises using real resources that are very complicated to organize, with an associated high cost, with limited possibilities both in the capacity to train and in the review and analysis of how it was carried out.

The trend now, therefore, is to apply simulation technologies to cover training needs. Training personnel would use real control and monitoring tools, which would be fed by data from a simulated scenario (effects of explosions, radioactive clouds, etc.), whereas the orders transmitted by personnel would affect the simulation, via mass behavior models, action models for response units (police, fire service, medical services, etc.), communications networks, etc.

Along this line, it is essential to achieve the necessary degree of interoperability between simulation models, between C2 systems, and between the fields of control and monitoring and simulation.

The technology developed by Nextel Engineering is directly applicable to Emergency monitoring and control systems since it is here where NEC concepts are directly applicable:

Additional information:
Network Centric Compliant Solutions




For more information: interoperabilidad@nexteleng.es