Solutions

Many modern systems, such as communications systems, sensor networks, and unmanned systems,  rely on complex integration software to manipulate and distribute information between components. Most of this integration software is developed in-house and for a limited spectrum of requirements. When new requirements surface, either during the initial development phase or through subsequent enhancements, additional development effort is required to modify this software.

Software and hardware component integration is one of the riskiest and time-consuming elements of any system development project. Extension of integration software introduces yet further risk in that existing, functional software can easily be affected adversely by new capabilities. Simulation strategies can be used to mitigate this risk however complete simulation of end-points and the information flows between them is extremely expensive in terms of financial and delivery constraints and retesting of existing integration paths compounds the impact. As a result, in many cases the integration components are the last to be tested and, unless major faults are immediately apparent, undergo the least scrutiny.