Developing federation object models using ontologies

The reuse of existing simulations in multiple federations is an important goal of distributed simulation frameworks. However, in order to reuse a federate, its simulation code often has to be modified so as to comply with the object and interaction representations defined in a corresponding federation object model (FOM). Such modifications imply added time and effort, which diminishes the efficacy of reuse in federation development. In this paper, we present an ontology-based framework for modeling federates and supporting their reuse in multiple federations. Ontologies are used to specify the semantics of objects and interactions in federate domains in a formal, computer-sensible fashion. Using these formal semantics the relationships between federate simulation concepts are described in a reusable fashion. In doing so, a suitable federation representation for a set of related federate concepts and the required set of transformations between federate and federation representations are automatically derived.