High fidelity simulation using the updated distributed interactive simulation standard

Distributed interactive simulation (DIS) is a widely-used networking protocol standard that provides a method of communicating entity information among simulators and simulations to create a synthetic environment. The IEEE DIS standard is being revised with balloting expected to be completed in 2012. The proposed new standard includes an extensive revision, clearing up ambiguities present in the existing 1998 version, and adding additional capabilities that reflect changes in military equipment and doctrine, and also advances in technology such as the internet, mobile telephony, and the widespread use of the global positioning system for positional and time data. Five new protocol data units have been added to include information operations capability, enhanced warfare support, and the ability to communicate information about individual attributes for a particular entity, object, or event. In this paper we review these new capabilities in detail, and explore what this will mean for the Australian simulati...