Abstract:
Future network-centric operations will run on ultra-large-scale (ULS) distributed real-time and embedded (DRE) systems characterized by thousands of platforms, sensors, decision nodes, actuators, and operators connected through heterogeneous networks to exploit information superiority and achieve strategic and tactical objectives. Unlike software for traditional small-scale real-time and embedded systems, whose qualities could be analyzed and validated using detailed and precise techniques (such as static analysis and model-checking), the dynamism and vast state space of ULS DRE systems will need signficant R&D advances to provide confidence that their implementations can be depended upon to meet end-to-end requirements in harsh operating environments.

This talk will explore the characteristics of ULS DRE systems that affect their quality and present the results of initial attempts to develop and validate model-driven technologies to assure key properties of today's large-scale systems and runtime platforms. The talk will also discuss gaps in the existing technology base that require significant R&D investment to scale up to meet the ambitious demands of the next generation of ULS systems.

Bio:
Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt is a Professor of Computer Science, Associate Chair of the Computer Science and Engineering program, and a Senior Researcher in the Institute for Software Integrated Systems (ISIS) all at Vanderbilt University. He has published over 300 technical papers and 8 books that cover a range of research topics, including patterns, optimization techniques, and empirical analyses of software frameworks and domain-specific modeling environments that facilitate the development of distributed real-time and embedded (DRE) middleware and applications running over high-speed networks and embedded system interconnects. Dr. Schmidt has served as a Deputy Office Director and a Program Manager at DARPA, where he led the national R&D effort on middleware for DRE systems. In addition to his academic research and government service, Dr. Schmidt has over fifteen years of experience leading the development of ACE, TAO, CIAO, and CoSMIC, which are widely used, open-source DRE middleware frameworks and model-driven tools that contain a rich set of components and domain-specific languages that implement patterns and product-line architectures for high-performance DRE systems.