Enhancing the distribution of radar surveillance data

One of the mechanisms currently used for the distribution of radar surveillance data is IP multicast. Subscribers to an IP multicast group are required to parse all messages even though they may only be interested in a small subset of the data. Middleware exists today that can perform all the functionality of the current radar surveillance data distribution system plus enhance the distribution by allowing filtering of data based on message content and time, restricting what data a subscriber can gain access to based on their current role, and allowing flexibility in how the data is sent (reliable versus best effort). This paper explores how Real Time Innovations Data Distribution Service (RTI DDS) can enhance the current distribution method for radar surveillance data. The results of the experiment showed that the current multicast distribution method can be enhanced by allowing both content and time filtering along with role based access. The ability to filter incoming data does not come for free. By exposing attributes,more network bandwidth is required. The generic data type used for this study increased the required bandwidth by a factor of two. Depending on the network bandwidth requirements, the published data type can be tailored accordingly.