| Objective Interface explores security and interoperability in mission-critical architectures |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 1, 2004 - Addressing the needs of technologists grappling with the balance between security and functionality in enterprise architectures, Objective Interface Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in embedded and real-time middleware solutions, today announced its sponsorship of the Object Management Group's (OMG's) technical meeting here this week, during which a day has been set aside to focus on the Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) architecture. On Wednesday, November 3, OMG has a day-long special session devoted to Information Assurance in High-risk Environments, with particular emphasis on the MILS architecture developed in coordination with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Security Agency and now being adopted for use throughout the government and military. The OMG Technical Meeting attracts more than 600 leading technologists and industry leaders from member organizations around the globe. Also on the agenda for the meeting is further action on four Objective Interface-originated proposals for modifications and extensions to OMG's Real-time Common Object Request Broker Architecture (RT CORBA) and to other OMG standards. Security, Information Assurance and the OMG Highlighting the fact that three major Real-time Operating System (RTOS) vendors are building products that conform to the MILS architecture, Beckwith added that because many of those considering MILS are also users of OMG's RT CORBA and other specifications that improve the level of information reliability and delivery, the organization is considering what can be done to layer OMG standards on MILS. The OMG is also evaluating ways to enhance RT CORBA's operation in high-risk environments. Beckwith will explain the MILS architecture at the Wednesday session of the technical meeting. In addition, the OMG and Objective Interface have assembled a number of key government and business representatives to present at the Wednesday session, including: Joseph Jarzombek of the Office of the Secretary of Defense; Ben A. Calloni, Ph.D., research program manager at Lockheed Martin; David Chizmadia, senior security assurance architect at Promia, Inc., and Michael McEvilley of The MITRE Corporation. These presenters will address a range of MILS-focused topics, including: why and how MILS is being used; its use in embedded and enterprise wide systems; how to achieve Common Criteria Certification under MILS; and best practices around using MILS in banking and other commercial environments. The session will end with a panel and the creation of a list of MILS recommendations to the OMG, said Beckwith. Proposals to the OMG High Assurance ORB: Submitted in collaboration with Rockwell Collins, this proposal advocates for a CORBA safety-critical profile appropriate for certification to DO-178B Level A. It will also include a definition of safe subsets of C++ and Ada and their mapping into CORBA using the profile. High Performance Enablers: Advances in interconnect technology such as Infiniband, VIA, Rapid IO, Hypertransport and PCI Express, said Beckwith, need to be integrated into CORBA effectively. The proposed extensions will allow CORBA to be used with these interconnection topologies without changing software, methodologies or tools, he said. They will also allow low-latency and/or high-throughput applications running on localized clusters to easily integrate with broader distributed CORBA environments. Reliable Ordered Multicast: This is a proposal for an inter-ORB protocol, said Beckwith, which addresses the need for a flexible, reliable-ordered multicast protocol in many enterprise and embedded applications. Within the IP family of protocols, there are multicast protocols that allow multiple senders to transmit to multiple recipients reliably, he said. However, they have not kept up with the changes in the Internet stemming from congestion created by the ever-increasing number of users. Thus, these protocols are not necessarily reliable anymore, at least with regard to transmitting data in the right order. This proposal marks our attempt to overcome these problems and make these protocols reliable on a highly scalable basis. Also on the agenda for further action is a new RFP submitted at this meeting by Objective Interface on Data Distribution Service (DDS) interoperability. DDS is a specification for simple data-centric publish-subscribe communications that does not define an interoperable wire protocol. The RFP submitted by Objective Interface requests two significant enhancements to the DDS standard: interoperability between DDS products and interoperability with the CORBA event service. Through this proposal, we are promoting a common wire protocol to DDS, said Beckwith. As presently defined, DDS, unlike CORBA, does not include such a protocol, which means that Company A's DDS can't talk to Company B's DDS. In addition, Objective Interface is seeking to integrate DDS more closely with CORBA so that developers can easily use both technologies for their programming solutions. Other Technical Meeting Activities About Objective Interface About the Object Management Group OMG Task Forces standardize Domain Facilities in industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, telecommunications, aerospace and the military/government domain. The technical committees meet five times a year at various locations around the world to take action on critical standards issues. ### Model Driven Architecture® and CORBA® are registered trademarks of the Object Management Group. OMG and Object Management Group are trademarks of the Object Management Group. All other products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners. Alison Alberich |