Service Oriented Architecture for Coast Guard Command and Control

The Coast Guard's software architecture does not meet the organization's needs for information sharing or command and control. The Commandant of the Coast Guard recently mandated the implementation of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) to address this problem. This thesis describes a Service Oriented Architecture for Coast Guard Command and Control that integrates legacy applications and provides new capabilities. Traditional software architecture descriptions make it difficult to identify and understand the trade-offs between quality attributes that are inherent in the design. We clarify these critical issues by using multiple scenarios and use cases, in addition to diagrams and functionality requirements. Defining the architecture in this manner enables an auditor to determine the architecture's validity. The Coast Guard also needs a plan to implement this SOA. This thesis defines a process that will deliver value in the form of usable capabilities in an incremental manner. It recognizes the constantly changing nature of both the problem and the necessary solution, and evolves accordingly. It continually plans for, adapts to, and exploits predictable advances in technology to deliver more value. The iterative method we propose includes cyclical evaluation of the system requirements, architecture, and implementation to provide continuous improvement.