A Sensor Network Architecture: Information, Control and Behavior Definitions for Large-Scale or Systems- of-Systems Testing

This paper envisions a plug-and-play architecture for test and evaluation that will allow engineers to rapidly and robustly define and configure test environments and scenarios. The architecture described here is based on a layered functional decomposition of the three aspects of test: information flow, control flow and behavior. These individual layered decompositions are presented first, then as an integrated technical reference model (I-TRM). Having an I-TRM is crucial to developing affordable and robust systems that are self-aware, self-healing and adaptable within a resource-constrained environment. Having these capabilities will become increasingly important as test scenarios become increasingly complex, such as distributed system-of-systems testing or as information volume becomes increasingly more demanding, yet unpredictable, as in the case of continuous test during operational missions. This work is presented as a natural extension of the military’s Network Centric Warfare model.