Application of FACE™ Data Modeling to Warfare System Design
Channel: The Open Group
Date: 16/10/2020

The Surface Navy presently lacks a comprehensive Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) for warfare system acquisition. A team out of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) has begun investigating the Future Airborne Capability Environment™ (FACE) to determine if the FACE™ approach, or significant lessons learned from it, will help designers apply MOSA to future, warfare system designs. To investigate, the NSWCDD team applied portions of the FACE approach and the FACE Technical Standard version 2.1 to a representative integration effort. Using FACE Technical Standard version 2.1 and tools widely available at the time, the team represented portions of complex warfare system interfaces as a series of FACE data models. Using these data models, the team analyzed and then closed the integration space between a set of heterogeneous systems. The team observed and reported the effects of data model-driven integration as this prototype system-of-systems evolved over time.

The team found that the MOSA principles embodied by the FACE approach are sound and applicable to the Surface Navy warfare system domain. 

Recommendations
The MOSA principles contained within the FACE Technical Standard appear sound. The mediation approach to interoperability, in particular, may be a significant game-changer. This approach provided significant reduction in tight coupling of systems and insulated system components from unnecessary change. The multiple layers that the FACE technical standard defines in both the data architecture and the reference architecture provide an effective separation of concerns, which focuses integration activities and professionalizes the role of the system integrator.

The strict conformance process developed by the FACE Consortium is a good mechanism to verify designs and prevent bad behavior that has plagued past development efforts. It also ensures the software does not deviate from the architecture; enforcing good design disciplines. With the FACE approach, problems are found earlier in the process, and integration work can be reused across the enterprise.

The FWSA team believes the FACE approach to be a viable solution for many of the problems experienced during warfare system integration. The content agnostic nature of the FACE data architecture means it could become a viable solution for designing and integrating all classes of systems within the Navy. 

The team was able to successfully model warfare system interfaces and interface data in conformance with FACE data modeling techniques. Such modeling and the related analysis resulted in much simpler interfaces and integration. The team was able to integrate legacy systems together using this model-driven approach without code change to the legacy systems under certain conditions.

The team encountered significant challenges due to a tool chain that was immature at the time. In particular, advancements are needed in the area of data modeling. A few vendors are working to create advanced tools for managing data models and mediating between interfaces. Also, some tools are under development to advance the code generation and automated testing capabilities. We look forward to evaluating these tools as they become available.

The flexibility provided by the FACE approach has led the team to believe it is applicable to many ongoing efforts, such as the AEGIS common source library, micro-services, and virtualization initiatives. It also appears to have applicability to any effort across the DoD that is developing a software interface or interface standard of any kind. For example, PMS-406 may benefit from the FACE approach for its new Unmanned Maritime Autonomy Architecture (UMAA) effort.

Growing interest in the FACE approach has brought increasing investment, and we expect the tools, modeling guidance, and acquisition guidance to mature steadily.

To do its part, NSWCDD has partnered with industry in a new cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) to investigate advancements in data modeling and its application to Navy warfare systems. 

Speaker: 
Nathan Flinn has been an employee at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division  (NSWCDD) since 2014.  Nathan has a B.S. in Computer Engineering, M.S. in Electrical Engineering, and M.E. in Engineering Management from Old Dominion University.

In his 16-year career, Nathan has worked off-board asset integration, unmanned system (UxS) integration, model-based system engineering (MBSE), and architecture initiatives for multiple programs of record in the Army and Navy.  Recently, Nathan led the integration of the MQ-8 Firescout Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) ground control station with the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Surface Warfare Mission Package (SUW MP) software. Nathan has championed the idea of flexible integration between UxS and Surface Navy warfare systems as well as Modular Open System Approaches (MOSA) to warfare system acquisition.