Hybrid Simulation and Test of Vessel Traffic Systems on the Cloud

This paper presents a cloud-based hybrid simulation platform to test large-scale distributed system-of-systems for the management and control of maritime traffic, the so-called vessel traffic systems (VTS). A VTS consists of multiple, heterogeneous, distributed, and interoperating systems, including radar, automatic identification systems, direction finders, electro-optical sensors, and gateways to external VTSs, information systems; identifying, representing, and analyzing interactions is a challenge to the evaluation of the real risks for safety and security of the marine environment. The need for reproducing in fabric the system behaviors that could occur in situ demands for the ability of integrating emulated and simulated environments to cope with the different testability requirements of involved systems and to keep testing cost sustainable. The platform exploits hybrid simulation and virtualization technologies, and it is deployable on a private cloud, reducing the cost of setting up realistic and effective testing scenarios.