Standards-Based Plug-and-Play Data Distribution

Abstract

[Abstract] The Real-Time Data Distribution Service (DDS) is a field-proven OMG specification that provides a virtual “global data space” where applications can share and distribute information efficiently and reliably. DDS supports a data-centric model where publishers of information are decoupled from subscribers and large modular systems can be developed. DDS’s extensive support for Quality of Service (QoS) has already made it successful in applications with constrained environments such as industrial control and adhoc networks connected by unreliable wireless links. The DDS QoS settings affect all aspects of the middleware operation, including reliability, connection timeouts, and resource use. Last June’s milestone adoption by the OMG of a highly-efficient DDS interoperability Protocol (Real-Time Publish-Subscribe, or RTPS) that can handle connectionless, ad-hoc dynamic environments opens the intriguing possibility of using DDS directly for the highly demanding needs of satellite and space communications. This paper provides an overview of DDS and the RTPS interoperability protocol focusing on the features that are important for the space environment. We will also discuss the benefits of SDM+DDS architecture.