Modeling and simulating SOSA sensor systems

Abstract

Open System Architecture (OSA) is a buzzword in the commercial and government communities. The attraction of OSAs is their ability to enable interoperability and reduce the cost of procuring sensor systems. The Sensor Open Sensor Architecture (SOSA) Consortium is a consensus based community of government and industry partners working together to develop the next generation of sensors that have well-defined interfaces for software, hardware, and electrical/mechanical components. Having well-defined interfaces brings about system modeling and simulation opportunities that would otherwise not be possible with proprietary designs. This paper intro- duces a system modeling and simulation approach that takes advantage of the open interfaces the SOSA Consortium provides, with the end goal being to design a sensor system in software. This system modeling and simulation approach demonstrates the efficacy of designing future sensor systems using the SOSA Technical Standard by providing design examples for sensor systems and networks of sensor systems. Two different use cases are modeled and analyzed in this paper. The first use case demonstrates how a ground vehicle can transmit science data to a nearby sensor that can then forward the data to a ground station using the SOSA Technical Standard. The second use case demonstrates how a network of sensors can use the SOSA Technical Standard to interoperate and establish communication with one or multiple ground stations. Together, these two use cases provide a solid framework for demonstrating the effectiveness of the SOSA Technical Standard for sensor system applications, whereas, the system modeling and simulation approach demonstrates its ability to enable rapid testing of new designs and algorithms for various components of a sensor.