Tuning RTI Performance for an EW T&E Federation

The Joint Advanced Distributed Simulation JADS Joint Test Force JTF is chartered by the Office of the Secretary of Defense to investigate the utility of Advanced Distributed Simulation ADS Technology, including the High Level Architecture HLA, to Test and Evaluation TE. JADS is executing three formal test programs, including the Electronic Warfare EW test, representing slices of the overall TE spectrum to form its conclusions. The EW test is using HLA and the run time infrastructure RTI version 1.3 to support two electronic warfare test events using a distributed cross-country network linking an instrumented EW system, constructive models, and virtual simulations. The JADS federation links six federates on six host computers passing attributes and interactions within constrained timing tolerances representing opposing EW systems operating in a live test environment. Prior to executing form al EW test events, JADS set up a test bed of federate host computers and long haul communications components to be used for the EW test events. Systematic test procedures were used to gather a series of performance benchmarks for the computer hosts, network components, and RTI versions 1.02 and 1.3. Testing started with basic network tests using two directly connected computers followed by adding communications components to the tests. The RTI and a test federate were then installed on each computer. Tests progressed with incremental addition of computers and test federates up to a total of six federates on six computers. When the JADS EW federate models and long-haul network became available, final tests and benchmarks were accomplished. This test methodology provided a series of filter screens designed to quantify RTI performance while isolating increasingly complex federate interactions and implementation issues for detailed examination.