Duc N. Nguyen

Distributed Coordination of First Responders

In a disaster scenario, first responders must be able to perform multiple functions in a coordinated way. At all levels of the task - from integrating heterogeneous systems to addressing response tasks and allocating resources - responders must be able to make decisions in a globally optimal fashion. Automated coordination mechanisms can help, but they still face several challenges that researchers must address to make them effective and useful. This article discusses the application of distributed constraint optimization in disaster management coordination.

An evaluation of serverless group chat

This paper presents empirical analysis of serverless, multi-user chat in multicast-capable tactical environments. The implemented group communications middleware is based on serverless XMPP messaging. We compare the effectiveness and performance of serverless messaging over multicast, as well as typical client server TCP messaging. The experiments are performed using the Common Open Research Emulator in conjunction with the Extendable Mobile Ad-Hoc Network Emulator, to provide a higher-fidelity emulation than previous work.

Net-centric information and knowledge management and dissemination for data-to-decision C2 applications using intelligent agents and service-oriented architectures

The Tactical Information Technologies for Assured Network Operations (TITAN) Program aims to achieve net-centric information and knowledge management and dissemination integrated with data-to-decision C2 Applications. TITAN is a multi-year effort to develop, demonstrate and mature information and knowledge (I&K) management and dissemination (M&D) services spanning multiple echelons and provide support to the network-centric operations process with collaborative military planning and execution monitoring. TITAN integrates heterogeneous, open-source intelligent agents and web services with network-centric communications infrastructures. These agents and services are designed to support users executing the Operations Process for command and control across command echelons from units on the upper tactical internet at brigade and above to units on the lower tactical internet at battalion and below. The result is an adaptive system for collaborative battle command planning, execution and monitoring. In delivering TITAN, the team had to engineer novel solutions to several current research problems. These technical contributions include the development of a Battle Command-Warfighter (BCW) interface that integrates planning with situation awareness; definition of interoperability schemas for C2 information sources and services; management of distributed provenance; implementation of a network-centric message bus for communications across different network echelons and radios; and the development of agents and services to support Mission Command planning processes and numerous Data-to-Decision (D2D) threads in a comprehensive manner to execute TRADOCs Multi-Level Scenario. The integrated TITAN system has been demonstrated in numerous settings and was featured at the Ft. Dix C4ISR “On the Move” experiment in summer 2011.

A methodology for developing an agent systems reference architecture

The slow adoption of agent-oriented methodologies as a paradigm for developing industry systems is due in part to their lack of integration and general-purpose use. There exists a need to define common patterns, relationships between components, and structural qualities that a reference architecture for agent-based systems would solve. However, there is little, if any, consensus on how to create a reference architecture for agent-based systems. This paper presents a methodology for developing a reference architecture that documents agent-based systems from different system viewpoints. Rather than the traditional approach of studying existing systems, the documentation methodology relies on forensic software analysis of agent frameworks (i.e., APIs and libraries for constructing agent systems). We demonstrate the methodology by describing the process used to create the Agent System Reference Architecture.

Development and Specification of a Reference Architecture for Agent-Based Systems

The recent growth of agent-based software systems was achieved without the development of a reference architecture. From a software engineering standpoint, a reference architecture is necessary to compare, evaluate, and integrate past, current, and future agent-based software systems. The agent systems reference architecture (ASRA) advances the agent-based system development process by providing a set of key interaction patterns for functional areas that exist between the layers and protocols of agent-based systems. Furthermore, the ASRA identifies the points for interoperability between agent-based systems and increases the level of discussion when referring to agent-based systems. This paper presents methodology, grounded in software forensics, to develop the ASRA and provides an overview of the resulting architectural representation. The methodology uses an approach based on software engineering techniques adapted to study agent frameworks-the libraries and tools for building agent systems. The resulting ASRA can serve as an abstract representation of the components necessary for facilitating comparison, integration, and interoperation of software systems composed of agents.

Coordinating UAVs in Dynamic Environments by Network-Aware Mission Planning

Traditional AI planning has been used successfully in many domains, including logistics, scheduling and game playing. This paper examines how AI planning techniques can be extended to coordinate teams of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in dynamic environments. Specifically challenging are real-world environments where UAVs and other network-enabled devices must communicate to coordinate -- and communication actions are neither reliable nor free. Such network-centric environments are common in military, public safety and commercial applications, yet most planning research (even multi-agent planning) usually takes communications among distributed agents as a given. The emerging application challenge of unmanned systems makes this problem of central focus. This work examines the problem of planning, plan monitoring and coordination of the mission of multiple UAVs in a communication-constrained environment. The work introduces several abstractions that enable AI planners to reason about communication and networking knowledge, and provides the underlying network system the means for including mission data as part of network operations. This work has been empirically validated using a distributed network-centric software evaluation test bed and the results provide guidance to designers in how to understand and control intelligent systems that operate in these environments.

Demonstration: disaster evacuation support

Evacuation or sheltering of neighborhoods, cities, or regions is a major component of responding to any natural or other disaster. Poorly chosen and uncoordinated destinations can quickly overwhelm shelter capacities. Insufficient knowledge and decision processes may also lead to mismatches between evacuee needs and shelter capabilites, such as advanced medical units. Unfortunately, the intuitive and easy response of moving evacuees to the closest refuges can easily lead to this situation. This work attempts to address this problem by developing tools and techniques to help emergency personnel create a shared and accurate understanding of the situation, make the best decisions for the group, and effectively conduct disaster evacuations.