Distributed System Architecture in VAST-RT for Real-Time Airspace Simulation

The Virtual Airspace Simulation Technology RealTime (VAST-RT) project at NASA Ames Research Center has implemented a new airspace modeling and simulation capability that provides a gate-to-gate, realtime, human-in-the-loop simulation environment to evaluate revolutionary Air Traffic Management (ATM) concepts. The system architecture of the VAST-RT connects high-fidelity flight simulators and air traffic control (ATC) simulators with each other and with low to medium fidelity target generators, as well as provides an interface for various models, agents, and decision support tools to create a flexible, extensible, and reconfigurable environment. The VAST-RT system architecture is responsible for delivering simulation data, including audio and video streams, in real-time to each of the participating simulation systems or facilities, as well as providing simulation synchronization and timing information. The architecture is based primarily upon the DoD developed High Level Architecture (HLA), however, the VASTRT project has developed a standard interface method to reduce the time and cost of integrating existing simulation systems into the distributed simulation environment. In addition, VAST-RT has adopted the concept of bridging between HLA federations to overcome incompatibilities between different HLA runtime implementations as well as differences in modeling of simulation data. The design and implementation of bridges between HLA federations, portals from non-HLA data networks to HLA federations, and real-time communications toolboxes that provide “best-practices” software interfaces for VAST-RT will be discussed. The development of solutions for distributed audio and video communications across the simulation environment will also be described.