Dynamic Agents Command and Control System (DACCS)

Abstract

Location Based Services (LBS) is a technology that facilitates dynamic spatial decision making by using geographic data transmitted across a wireless network between a user’s geolocation-enabled mobile device and the LBS nerve centre. Generally, LBS are expensive, proprietary, complex to develop and based on several standards. This research paper develops a proof of concept for an open source, lightweight, versatile, LBS called DACCS that employs an instant messaging architecture and is targetted at geolocation-enabled devices complying with the Mobile Services Architecture (MSA) specification. MSA aims to create a consistent Java Application Programming Interface (API) for mobile application development. DACCS is designed to track the movement of MSA compliant mobile devices, such as cell phones, and dynamically display the device locations on maps in real time. It is intended for use in command and dispatch type applications such as controlling mobile resources in the deployment of an emergency plan or geolocating instant messaging contacts. The scope of the research includes developing the DACCS mobile component on an emulator but not its deployment on a physical device because of time constraints. A simulator is developed, in order to evaluate the system, in which a set of mobile agents traverses the simulator-generated routes while simultaneously the agents’ geolocations are continuously rendered in real time on the DACCS maps. Although the evaluation demonstrates the proof of concept, further research is required into the areas of fault-tolerance and scaleability of the system when subjected to the populations and traffic volumes typical of instant messaging applications.