A Portable Scenario Format for CCTT

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A Portable Scenario Format for CCTT

• Darren R. Law, SAIC
• Jim D. Moerk, SAIC

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Obligatory Overview

• Background information on CCTT
• The CCTT Exercise File Problem
• (AKA Lessons Learned in Rigid Formats)
• The PSF Solution
• Solution Constraints
• Solution Approach and Rationale

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What is CCTT?

• The Close Combat Tactical Trainer
• primarily a crew-cabin virtual training system
• Trainees in manned modules (M1A1, HHMMWV, DI )
• Trainees or operators at OC stations (FSE,
  AFATDS, TACP)
• MCC and AAR
• CGF and SAF
• Trains tank and mech infantry and from Pn to Bn
• www.stricom.army.mil/PM-CATT/CCTT/...
• In Ada, implemented on AIX and Linux
• SLOC

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CCTT Components
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CCTT Exercise Files

• CCTT exercise files specify
• Terrain database
• Initial Force Layout
• Force Composition/Command hierarchy
• Positions and Conditions
• Pre-planned orders and overlays
• Pre-deployed relocatables
• Separate files for some C2 parameters,
  operator-specifiable parameters, and
  afterthoughts

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The SAF Entity Object Database

• SEOD is a distributed database containing all of
  CCTTs cognitive and abstract state data
• Orders, task organization, spotlists,
• Uses CCTT CGF protocol, embedded within DIS
  experimental PDUs
• Checkpointing requirement
• Cant pause HITL system w/o training impact, so
  fast checkpoint save essential
• binary representation of the SEOD
• The Problematic Decision The mechanisms
  implemented for checkpointing SEOD were re-used
  as an exercise loading and saving mechanism.

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The Consequences

• Substantial investment in exercise files requires
  backward compatibility with older data models
• Limited growth of SEOD data objects
• Some padding was left for growth
• Fixed typing of data elements
• Positional dependencies
• Limited range growth
• Is_A_Blue_Tank rare, in M1A1..Challenger
  widespread
• Mapping layer solution

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Solution Objectives

• Eliminate limits on CCTTs growth
• Allow for object size increases and type changes
• Eliminate positional dependencies and range
  limits
• Reduce software difficulty of extending system

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Solution Constraints

• Preserve customer investment in exercise files
• Make change transparent to users
• Improve software maintainability
• Do not slow exercise load/save substantially

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Solution, Part 1

• Translate CCTT exercise files to XML
• Benefits
• Easily-extensible data model
• Platform independent
• Open source tools, easier exercise file reuse
  (OOS,..)
• Disadvantages
• Load/save speed impact
• File size increase expected
• File size stayed about the same
• Difficulty maintaining W3C-compliant schema and
  data-driven load-save code
• Software maintainability adversely affected

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Solution, Part 2

• Generate CCTT-specific and W3C-compliant schema
• Benefits
• Data-driven load-save reduces CCTT code
  substantially
• Open-source tools for validation and reuse
  promotion
• Disadvantages
• Adds a step to exercise load
• Now two schema to maintain

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Solution, Part 3

• Atox tool developed
• Benefits
• Generates CCTT schema directly from code
• Simply update atox configuration file
• Open source tools translate CCTT schema to
  W3C-compliant schema
• Disadvantages
• Atox tool requires that compiler comply with
  certain Ada standards (Ada Semantics Interface
  Specification) for compilation modules

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CCTT Application Initialization

• CCTT-specific schema parsed
• Translation to binary stored in PSF interface
• PSF interface used to load exercise
• Data-driven load save
• Substantial code reduction

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CCTT Exercise Load/Save

• W3C-compliant schema parsed
• PSF interface used to load exercise
• Data-driven load save
• Validation
• Load time has been adversely impacted (as much as
  4x)
• Design and performance changes to system loading
  algorithm for LSE more than offset this

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Results

• Data model no longer limits CCTT growth
• Positive impact on system maintainabilty
• Load time impacted, but impact already more than
  offset by changes for other projects
• PSF facilitates exercise file reuse outside CCTT

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Possible Extensions

• Use of name-value pairs for more data-driven
  approach to SEOD network comms was investigated
• Performance unacceptable (4-22x)
• Data-driven SAF
• New order/parameter currently requires
  order-specific additions to user order i/o
• Decoupling of SEOD GUI would facilitate
  replacement of main OC codes with SAF
• Different GUIs required, but underlying control
  mechanisms for most OC functions already embedded
  in SAF code

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Questions?

• Darren.R.Law_at_saic.com
• Jim.D.Moerk_at_saic.com