[x3d-public] Repeatable Unit Testing of DIS Protocol Behavior Streams for X3D

[Don Brutzman]

Am happy to report that the following thesis has been published, code is checked in, and we will be testing it further as part of our MV3500 Networked Simulation course at NPS this quarter.  Recording of diverse Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) data streams, recording DIS and converting streams to X3D playback is powerful.

Thanks for all insights and support. Looking forward to continued progress.

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REPEATABLE UNIT TESTING OF DISTRIBUTED INTERACTIVE SIMULATION (DIS) PROTOCOL BEHAVIOR STREAMS USING WEB STANDARDS

Tobias Brennenstuhl Lieutenant Colonel, German Army
Masters Thesis, Modeling Virtual Environments Simulation (MOVES), Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Monterey California USA, June 2020

Abstract. The IEEE Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) protocol is used for high-fidelity real-time information sharing among simulations and trainers across the entire international Modeling and Simulation (M&S) community. If archivally saved and replayed, DIS streams have the potential to become a valuable source of Big Data. The availability of archived prerecorded behavior streams for replay, adaptation, and analysis can benefit an immense variety of application areas. The computer science principle "a stream is a stream" indicates that data in motion is equivalent to data at rest. This characteristic can enable powerful capabilities for DIS.

This thesis presents prototypes to demonstrate how various forms of repeatability are key to gaining improved benefits from DIS stream analysis. Unit testing of DIS behavior streams allows confirmation of both repeatability and correctness when testing all manner of applications, exercises, simulations, and training sessions. A related use case is automated after-action review (AAR) from recorded DIS streams. This thesis also shows how a DIS stream is converted into autogenerated code that can animate an X3D Graphics model. Many obstacles were overcome during this work, and so various best practices are provided. Of note is that unit testing might even become a contract requirement for incrementally developing and stably maintaining Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) code bases. This progress provides many opportunities for future work.

* README
   https://gitlab.nps.edu/Savage/NetworkedGraphicsMV3500/-/blob/master/documentation/theses/brennenstuhl/README.md

* Presentation
   https://gitlab.nps.edu/Savage/NetworkedGraphicsMV3500/-/blob/master/documentation/theses/brennenstuhl/BrennenstuhlOpenDIS7UnitTestingBriefingJune2020.pptx

* Thesis
   https://gitlab.nps.edu/Savage/NetworkedGraphicsMV3500/-/blob/master/documentation/theses/brennenstuhl/BrennenstuhlOpenDIS7UnitTestingThesisJune2020.pdf

* Demonstration Video (20 minutes)
   https://gitlab.nps.edu/Savage/NetworkedGraphicsMV3500/-/blob/master/documentation/theses/brennenstuhl/BrennenstuhlOpenDIS7UnitTestingX3dInterpolation.mp4

* Twitter
   https://twitter.com/Web3DConsortium/status/1283506818262552577

* YouTube
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_ARFsRFgRk&t=54s

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all the best, Don
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Don Brutzman  Naval Postgraduate School, Code USW/Br       brutzman at nps.edu
Watkins 270,  MOVES Institute, Monterey CA 93943-5000 USA   +1.831.656.2149
X3D graphics, virtual worlds, navy robotics http://faculty.nps.edu/brutzman