Inter/intra process communications in ISTS

The complexity of maintaining a generic and flexible Intelligent Simulation-Based Training System (ISTS) necessitates a coordinated methodology to handle inter and intra process communications. Several issues must be considered before committing to one form of process communication. Such issues involve system portability, real time interaction, distributed system realization, memory, and multi-process communications. This document examines the application of different communication strategies to ISTS. The advantages and disadvantages of using memory-based InterProcess Communication (IPC) facilities in SunOS operating system versus the use of properties for communication in an X Window environment are described. Furthermore, the use of rule-based blackboard architecture to handle communications between modules within the Tutoring group is presented. This research provides the ground work for a flexible and generic Intelligent Simulation Training System.