The innovation described here is the development of a distributed object type management system (DOTS) kernel that provides an integrated, uniform, and extensible framework for storage, retrieval, and update of heterogeneous objects. The DOTS approach provides a uniform framework to integrate heterogeneous objects of diverse forms such as text, structured data, and image in a distributed environment. It enables both of data and applications and/or functions to be integrated without modifying existing systems. It allows new systems to be developed and integrated easily by emphasizing the reusability of existing systems. In Phase I, a methodology to represent heterogeneous information systems using the object-type abstraction will be developed and evaluated by applying it to selected NASA systems. High-level design specifications for the DOTS kernel will also be developed in Phase I. The thrust of Phase II would be to design DOTS in detail and demonstrate it for selected NASA data systems.
Potential Commercial Applications: DOTS is applicable to organizations in the commercial and federal sectors many of which face problems in managing heterogeneous, distributed data.STATUS: Project Proceded to Phase II
