Benefits
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About
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FLAMES Simulation Software FLAMES
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FLexible Analysis, Modeling, and Exercise System (FLAMES®) is a family of commercial off-the-shelf software products that provide a framework for constructive simulations and interfaces between live, virtual, and constructive simulations. FLAMES’ open, object-oriented architecture gives you the flexibility to develop many different types of simulations and to modify your simulations easily as your requirements change. The many benefits of using FLAMES include reduced life-cycle costs, true composability and software reuse, increased productivity, and ultimately, the success of your simulation-based project.
The monolithic architecture of most simulations makes them very time-consuming and expensive to modify as technology and requirements change. Rather than modify an out-of-date simulation, it is often easier and cheaper to build a new one. This explains why there are so many different simulations in use today and why nearly every major new simulation currently under development is not based on a predecessor. Unfortunately, new simulations continue to be based on monolithic designs and will someday also need to be abandoned.
The limited architectures of both old and new simulations have resulted in the waste of literally billions of software development dollars. Even worse, many pressing requirements for more advanced simulations remain unsatisfied.
Unlike fixed, monolithic simulations, FLAMES is a framework for composable simulations that can be reconfigured quickly to support almost any current or future modeling and simulation requirement imaginable. FLAMES is separate from and independent of application-specific software, such as models of real-world systems and custom interfaces to specific external systems. In a FLAMES-based simulation, the application-specific software resides in software components that plug into FLAMES using mature, well-defined interfaces.
As a true simulation framework, FLAMES provides two very important features:
Complete component independence is the primary feature that distinguishes true simulation frameworks from fixed simulations. The acid test for component independence is whether the framework is fully executable without the presence of any components. Ternion is not aware of any simulation system other than FLAMES that can pass this test.
Unlike other simulations, FLAMES is not hard-wired to support some fixed set of tightly-coupled components. As many organizations around the world have already learned, FLAMES can support almost any type of component you require, now and in the future. Just as important, you can now use a single framework to satisfy nearly all of your simulation requirements.
In order for a simulation framework to be useful, it must define mature interfaces that make it easy to develop and integrate new components. FLAMES clearly defines these interfaces. To develop a new component with the proper interfaces, use an automated FLAMES tool to define a new software class that inherits one of the FLAMES base classes. Then, compile the component software and place it in a standard object library. To integrate new components, simply copy a FLAMES-compatible object library into the proper directory on your computer hard drive. The next time you execute FLAMES, your components will plug-in and integrate automatically.
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FLAMES-Based Simulation SystemFLAMES-compatible components, such as software models of real-world systems and interfaces to external systems, plug in to FLAMES and integrate automatically. The chart above shows live instrumented systems, virtual simulators, constructive simulations, visualization systems, and C4I systems as some examples of components you can plug into the FLAMES Simulation Framework. |
One benefit of the FLAMES plug-in component architecture is truly composable, reconfigurable simulations−something many others have tried to develop without success. End-users (non-software developers) can quickly compose the simulations they need by merely placing the necessary component libraries on their hard drive.
Another benefit of the FLAMES plug-in component architecture is a tremendous, recurring savings in time and money. You save in software design because the structure and interfaces of FLAMES components have already been designed. You save in software development and testing because so much of the software you need to get a working simulation is already developed and tested for you. You save in software integration, which is often the most expensive part of modifying an existing simulation, because FLAMES components are self integrating.
FLAMES includes a number of ready-to-run executable programs referred to as the standard applications. These applications give you the user-friendly tools you need to develop, execute, analyze, and visualize scenarios quickly and easily. The applications can also serve as the starting point for the development of your own custom applications.
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The FLAMES standard applications include several advanced modules to address specialized simulation requirements quickly and inexpensively.
FLAMES also offers a suite of options that augment the capabilities of the standard applications to address specialized simulation requirements.
All system-specific processing in FLAMES-based simulations occurs in software referred to as models. FLAMES defines the base classes for many different types of models, including models of physical devices such as vehicles, sensors, weapons, communication devices, and jammers; models of cognitive processes that simulate human reasoning and decision making; and models of the natural and man-made environment. Starting from these base classes, FLAMES lets you develop models of almost any type of system at the level of fidelity and resolution you require. Models that conform to FLAMES standards can be “plugged” into FLAMES-based simulations in any quantity or combination.
FLAMES standard applications are bundled with a wide variety of example models that let you start building and executing scenarios the minute you install FLAMES on your computer. You can also copy and modify the source code of the example models to create custom models.
Typically, custom FLAMES-based simulations are created by developing new models, plugging them into the FLAMES standard applications, and linking in the FLAMES options you need. Using this approach, you can often get the simulation you need in a matter of weeks. You can also develop FLAMES-based applications that are not based on the standard FLAMES applications, such as custom data importers, scenario development tools, interfaces to specialized equipment, and high-fidelity visualization packages. You can develop custom models and applications yourself, or you can contract with Ternion to develop them for you.
FLAMES is licensed in both development configurations (for those who want to develop new FLAMES-based simulations) and runtime configurations (for those who are only executing the simulations). FLAMES products execute on Linux and Windows computers.
Easy to use, ready to run applications for scenario creation, execution, visualization, and analysis
Sample FLAMES components that include simple, example models of many types of military systems and human behavior
An example FLAMES scenario database to help you build your first FLAMES scenarios
Abundant online and printable user documentation
Object libraries and include files for developing your own FLAMES-compatible components in either the C or C++ programming language
Lots of example source code, including the source code to all the FLAMES example models
Tools to generate custom model source code and define graphical user interfaces for your models
Abundant online and printable developer documentation
