Data Distribution Service Research Articles

A generalized approach to real-time, non-intrusive instrumentation and monitoring of standards-based distributed middleware

Dynamic Binary Instrumentation (DBI) is one way to monitor a distributed system in real-time without modifying application source code. Previous work has shown it is possible to instrument distributed systems using standards-based distributed middleware. Existing work, however, only applies to a single middleware, such as CORBA. This article therefore presents a tool named the Standards-based Distributed Middleware Monitor (SDMM), which generalizes two modern standards-based distributed middleware, the Data Distribution Service (DDS) and gRemote Procedure Call (gRPC). SDMM uses DBI to extract values and other data relevant to monitoring a distributed system in real-time. Using dynamic instrumentation allows SDMM to capture information without a priori knowledge of the distributed application under instrumentation. We applied SDMM to applications written with two DDS vendors, RTI Connext DDS and OpenDDS, as well as gRPC which is a complete remote procedure call framework. Our results show that the data collection process contributes to less than 1% of the performance overhead in some tests.

A time‐sensitive networking‐enabled synchronized three‐phase and phasor measurement‐based monitoring system for microgrids

This paper presents the design and implementation of a Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) protocol-enabled synchronized measurement-based monitoring system for microgrids. The proposed approach synchronizes and prioritizes the communication nodes, allowing it to transfer ultra-high three-phase sampled data and phasors. TSN is achieved by Quality of Service (QoS) profile software library. This allows control, monitoring, traffic scheduling, and prioritization. Some buses in a microgrid may have priority over others; and this can be prioritized at the data level too, where a part of the information is more critical than the others. The advantages of utilizing the TSN protocol on a microgrid with the approach proposed are: it is an alternative to GPS technology, three-phase data can be exchanged at much faster rate and data traffic in the network can be shaped with low packet loss, and low latency, in addition to providing interoperability through Data Distribution Services (DDS). These enhancements improve the communication reliability and enable distributed control, resulting in avoidance of any bottlenecks in the communications network. This proposed approach is implemented and demonstrated in a laboratory-scale microgrid. The results obtained, verify low latency and high throughput of the entire system while meeting the TSN and QoS requirements.

Simulink Implementation of the Data Distribution Service for Vehicular Controllers on Top of GBE and AFDX

AbstractVehicular networks have seen major changes in the past few years in order to offer reliable and real-time capable high-speed data transmission between electrical and mechatronic components to map current and future innovative functions into distributed systems within automotive applications. In the same context, the real-time middleware data distribution service (DDS) is an appropriate alternative for the standard vehicular middleware considering that it handles quality of service (QoS) parameters including real-time ones. In this paper, we are proposing a new approach for DDS implementation and integration into the vehicular system by creating a model-based design blocks. To validate this implementation, we have used the case of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) vehicle benchmark as a simulation and test model. Therefore, we designed a Simulink vehicle as specified by SAE benchmark. Then, we have introduced a new methodology to link each module to a Simulink DDS blockset. The goal of this approach is to facilitate the use of DDS with vehicular controllers and to reduce the deployment and configuration complexities associated with DDS. It will also enable distributed real-time embedded systems developers to concentrate more on the business logic of the application instead of the low-level implementation details. The final developed architecture has been tested using three different types of real-time networks: FlexRay, Gigabit Ethernet and AFDX, to demonstrate that real-time application’s QoS are always met using this model.

A Smart Manufacturing Cell with Distributed Intelligence

This paper presents a novel approach to implementing a smart manufacturing cell with distributed intelligence in the context of Industry 4.0. The system uses holons to model digital twins for a manufacturing cell and a Graph Node Network for production routing. The Graph Node Network allows dynamic generation of production routes for different parts. For prototyping, Robotic Operating System (ROS 2) is used, which provides a convenient way of representing individual digital twins (in the form of "nodes") for different equipment in the system. It also enabled us to create a decentralised and distributed architecture. The nodes are connected via Data Distribution Service, which utilises a publish/subscribe method for communications. The paper demonstrated a flexible, extensible, and fault-tolerant manufacturing cell that is geared toward a high-mix and low-volume production scenario.

DSF: A Distributed SDN Control Plane Framework for the East/West Interface

The ever-increasing number of network-capable devices places a massive burden on modern networks. Communication infrastructure should provide quality-of-service essentials in terms of high-bandwidth capacity, scalability, resiliency, and security. Programmable networks are viewed as the prevailing method of encountering the challenges introduced by the accelerated expansion. The ability of software-defined networking (SDN) to separate the control plane from the data plane and enable the programmability of the network creates new ways to architect the network. The centralization of control logic introduces complexities in large-scale, distributed networks such as performance bottlenecks and reliability. Distributed SDN controllers have been proposed to overcome the performance concerns. The lack of a communication standard among distributed controllers, referred to as the East/West interface, presents a challenge in the adoption of SDN in large-scale, distributed networks. In this paper, we propose Distributed SDN control plane Framework (DSF) - a framework for the East/West interface for heterogeneous, distributed SDN controllers to synchronize topologies using a standardized data-centric real-time publish/subscribe paradigm known as the Data Distribution Service (DDS). Distributed control plane architectures are proposed using DSF: flat, hierarchical, and T-model. The DSF interface is implemented on multiple SDN control plane platforms to evaluate performance: Floodlight and Open Network Operating System (ONOS) controllers. Test cases with different configurations are designed for performance evaluation of the proposed interface in homogeneous and heterogeneous SDN control planes. In addition, a performance comparison is presented of DSF-based ONOS controllers versus Atomix-based ONOS cluster solutions.

Underlying Communication Model of Joint Test Environment Based on Publish-Subscribe Mechanism

Joint Test Inter-Connection Architecture (JTICA) contains application layer, simulation layer, and communication layer from top to bottom, which can construct a shared test space through connecting live, virtual, constructive simulation resources. Data distribution service is used as communication layer protocol, which can provide joint test with high real-time and large throughput. Heterogeneous systems and interactive models need to been mapped into equivalent entities in communication layer to set up the relationship between heterogeneous systems based on data-centric publish subscribe mechanism. Then heterogeneous systems are mapped into DomainParticipant, interactive models mapped into Topics, in communication layer. There are two map relationships between heterogeneous systems and DomainParticipants including “one-to-one” and “one-to-many”, which affect the communication efficiency of joint test. Communication delay of Prototype systems designed based on different map relationship are compared, and the result is referred to when selecting map relationship.

Modelling protocol gateways for cyber-physical systems using Architecture Analysis & Design Language

Developing, configuring, and deploying legacy protocol gateways for existing cyber-physical systems to improve interoperability remains challenging. A possible solution is using model-driven engineering languages such as the Architecture Analysis & Design Language (AADL) that enables combined modelling of software, hardware, and communication for distributed systems. Experiences made while creating an OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) / Data Distribution Service (DDS) gateway indicate the suitability of AADL to model complex software artefacts. Moreover, a proposed process reduces the development and configuration effort for platform-specific gateway instances. A challenge to be addressed is the generation of executable code for resource-constraint devices.

IIoT Based Multimodal Communication Model for Agriculture and Agro-Industries

The population would reach ten billion by 2050, and experts believe that the agricultural sector needs to boost production by 70% to satisfy the demand. Traditional farming practices rely on primitive technology that creates a yield gap with low productivity. A paradigm shift towards merging new technologies in the agriculture sector would enhance productivity, optimize cost, and encourage sustainable development. In this paper, we review the necessity for the fusion of the Fourth Industrial Revolution technological approach in the agricultural domain. We discuss the gap in supply chain management for the Industrial sector and Agricultural sector and identify the issues of vendor-specific production systems. We propose a multimodal communication model for the systematic integration of multi-vendor agricultural production systems. Our model utilizes the Data Distribution Service (DDS) middleware to enable communication between heterogeneous production systems to perform farming operations in a coordinated manner. Experimental work is conducted on a small-scale hydroponic farm to evaluate the system performance in terms of throughput, latency, and packet delivery ratio (PDR). The throughput for our proposed DDS system has significantly improved with the use of the BATCH QoS policy for payload size less than 1024 bytes. However, we incur an average latency of approximately 235 microseconds for any payload size. The value of PDR is 1 for any payload size ensuring our system to be reliable. The results suggest that our model can enable interoperability between multi-vendor production systems in real-time while incurring minimum latency.

Modeling and Analysis of Data Flow-Oriented ROS2 Data Distribution Service

Modeling and Analysis of Data Flow-Oriented ROS2 Data Distribution Service

Distributed System Simulation Application Considering Data Distribution Service

Distributed System Simulation Application Considering Data Distribution Service

Modelling and Verification of Real-Time Publish and Subscribe Protocol Using Uppaal and Simulink/Stateflow

Real-Time Publish and Subscribe (RTPS) protocol is a protocol for implementing message exchange over an unreliable transport in data distribution service (DDS). Formal modelling and verification of the protocol provide stronger guarantees of its correctness and efficiency than testing alone. In this paper, we build formal models for the RTPS protocol using Uppaal and Simulink/Stateflow. Modelling using Simulink/Stateflow allows analyzing the protocol through simulation, as well as generate executable code. Modelling using Uppaal allows us to verify properties of the model stated in TCTL (Timed Computation Tree Logic), as well as estimate its performance using statistical model checking. We further describe a procedure for translation from Stateflow to timed automata, where a subset of major features in Stateflow is supported, and prove the soundness statement that the Stateflow model is a refinement of the translated timed automata model. As a consequence, any property in a certain fragment of TCTL that we have verified for the timed automata model in Uppaal is preserved for the original Stateflow model.

New method to analyse delay of DDS and MMS in substation communication

As the standard specification for substation, IEC61850 utilises the abstract communication service interface to map to the manufacturing message specification (MMS) to communicate between the substation level and the bay level. The conventional MMS adopts the client/server model, which results in a relatively large transmission delay. In order to solve this problem, the data distribution service (DDS) is used to replace MMS for its excellent reliability and timeliness. However, the communication law and mechanism of DDS have not been known which result in the insufficient application of DDS. An end-to-end (ETE) delay method is proposed to divide the communication process into different parts according to the sequence in time and analyse the ETE delay of each part. By this method, the delay law and difference of DDS and MMS are analysed and summarised. The simulation results by the optimised network engineering tool software validate that DDS has a smaller delay than MMS. Therefore, DDS can better meet the timeliness of intelligent substation.

DDS : A Solution to Network Centric Warfare

The Open Management Group Data Distribution Service ( OMG DDS ) is a standard for publish-subscribe data distribution systems which is emerging as a specification for data exchange. It is a type of Message Oriented Middleware ( MOM ) that provides various functionalities such as portability and interoperability across many DDS implementations. In this, we create models which are platform independent. One platform can be mapped to others. These platforms can be in different programming languages. The existing issues with this technology include its inability to support request-reply services, file transfer and transaction processing. These issues can be considered as research work for future. Nowadays, there is always a need to exchange data among several communication machines instead of just a single machine. DDS caters this need by allowing data to be sent and received in a distributed environment. While doing so, the various security issues related to data integrity and loss of data are also taken into consideration. In this paper, Data Distribution Service ( DDS ) has been implemented to be used in network centric warfare, in three programming languages i.e Java, C and C++ in order to allow for cross language communication without any loss of data on a standalone mode .Data can also be exchanged between several machines in a distributed environment.

Service quality evaluation of satellite data distribution system based on BP‐IPA

AbstractWith the remarkable advances in remote sensing technology, remote sensing data collected by satellites play an important role in many application domains, in particular the smart city. The service quality of satellite data distribution systems (SDDS) is vital for both administrators and end users. Therefore, it is of practical significance to fully understand the factors that affect the satellite data distribution service. Based on prior studies of e‐service quality evaluation and the characteristics of the satellite data, a multidimensional and multi‐level service quality evaluation model of the SDDS is proposed. A questionnaire was designed based on the proposed model to collect users' evaluation data. Backpropagation neural network was employed to examine whether and how factors in the proposed model affect the overall service quality. The results were interpreted using importance and performance analysis to assess the relationship between the keys of service quality of the SDDS and the overall service quality. Findings have important managerial implications for the quality management of the SDDS.

DDS-Based Containment Control of Multiple UAV Systems

In this paper, we present a robust containment control design for multi Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems (UAVs) based on the Data Distribution Service (DDS) middleware and L 1 adaptive controller. The Data Distribution Service middleware, L 1 adaptive controller and graph theory technique are utilized for the navigation of the UAVs. The L 1 controller is utilized as a local controller for each UAVs and the graph theory approach is utilized to constitute the followers inside their leaders. Finally, the DDS Middleware is used to exchange data between the followers and their leaders. Robust adaptation of the L 1 controller makes the system robust with a high level of performance. Matlab simulation verified the robustness of the L 1 controller. We provide stability proofs using Lyapunov analysis for the UAVs framework.

Internet of Things (IoT) Platform for Multi-Topic Messaging

IoT-based applications operate in a client–server architecture, which requires a specific communication protocol. This protocol is used to establish the client–server communication model, allowing all clients of the system to perform specific tasks through internet communications. Many data communication protocols for the Internet of Things are used by IoT platforms, including message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT), advanced message queuing protocol (AMQP), MQTT for sensor networks (MQTT-SN), data distribution service (DDS), constrained application protocol (CoAP), and simple object access protocol (SOAP). These protocols only support single-topic messaging. Thus, in this work, an IoT message protocol that supports multi-topic messaging is proposed. This protocol will add a simple “brain” for IoT platforms in order to realize an intelligent IoT architecture. Moreover, it will enhance the traffic throughput by reducing the overheads of messages and the delay of multi-topic messaging. Most current IoT applications depend on real-time systems. Therefore, an RTOS (real-time operating system) as a famous OS (operating system) is used for the embedded systems to provide the constraints of real-time features, as required by these real-time systems. Using RTOS for IoT applications adds important features to the system, including reliability. Many of the undertaken research works into IoT platforms have only focused on specific applications; they did not deal with the real-time constraints under a real-time system umbrella. In this work, the design of the multi-topic IoT protocol and platform is implemented for real-time systems and also for general-purpose applications; this platform depends on the proposed multi-topic communication protocol, which is implemented here to show its functionality and effectiveness over similar protocols.

DDS 기반의 실시간 정보공유 프레임워크 사례 연구

DDS 기반의 실시간 정보공유 프레임워크 사례 연구

Configurable DDS as Uniform Middleware for Data Communication in Smart Grids

Data Distribution Service (DDS) has emerged as a potential solution for data communication challenges in smart grids. DDS is designed to support quality communication for large scale real-time systems through a wide range of QoS policies. However, a smart grid involves various types of communication applications running on different computing environments. Some environments have limited computing resources such as small memory and low performance, which makes it difficult to accommodate DDS. In this paper, we present a feature-based approach for tailoring DDS to configure lightweight DDS by selecting only the necessary features for the application in consideration of the resource constraints of its running environment. This allows DDS to serve as a uniform communication middleware across the smart grid, which is critical for interoperability. We analyze DDS in terms of features and design them using Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Object Constraint Language (OCL) based on inheritance and overriding. We define a formal notion of feature composition to build DDS configurations. We implemented the approach in OpenDDS and demonstrate its application to different application environments. We also experimented the approach for the efficiency of configured DDS in terms of resource utilization. The results show that configured DDS is viable for efficient and quality data communication for applications that run on an environment with limited computing capability.

A New Methodology for Implementing the Data Distribution Service on Top of Gigabit Ethernet for Automotive Applications

Today’s vehicles have become increasingly complex, as consumers demand more features and better quality in their cars. Most of these new features require additional electronic control units (ECU) and software control, constantly pushing back the limits of existing architectures and design methodologies. Indeed, modern automobiles have a larger number of critical time functions distributed and running simultaneously on each ECU. Data Distribution Service (DDS) is a publish/subscribe middleware specified by the international consortium Object Management Group (OMG), which makes the information available in real time, while offering a rich range of quality of service (QoS) policies. In this paper, we propose a new methodology to integrate DDS in automotive application. We evaluate the performance of our new design by testing the fulfillment of real time QoS requirements. We also compare the performance of the vehicle application when using FlexRay and Ethernet networks. Computations prove that the use of DDS over Gigabit Ethernet (GBE) is promising in the automotive field.

Management of industrial communications slices: Towards the Application Driven Networking concept

To address the performance problems that many business critical applications are experiencing, network vendors and Network Service Providers (NSP) are reconsidering the integration of some form of application awareness in the way their networks forward user traffic. Their ultimate goal is to devise new network service models that are dedicated and customized to applications while efficiently using network resources. Even if this approach is not new and has been already followed with a mitigated success two decades ago, the emergence of software-Defined networking and network virtualization coupled with DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) pave the way for the investigation of new approaches/solutions towards application aware/driven networks. This is exactly the motivations of this work whose objective is to propose an Application Driven Network (ADN) that provides services to a specific type of applications, i.e. Dynamic Data Distribution Service (DDS) based applications. Considered as one of the leading connectivity standard for industrial IoT communications, focusing on DDS allows a fine-grained description of applications’ traffic and needs. With this information as input, the proposed ADN is able to provision network services that stick to application needs while using network resources efficiently. This paper sketches the general architecture of such ADN by describing its main components, their requirements as well as their algorithms. This solution has been implemented, prototyped and applied to a DDS based distributed interactive simulation application.