Topic-Based Access Profiles for Distributed HLA Simulation
Abstract
One of the main characteristics of distributed simulations that use the IEEE 1516-2010 communication standard High-Level Architecture (HLA) – is that all communicated information is accessible to all interested participants. This characteristic represents a security vulnerability, especially in simulation exercises involving multiple nations or distinct attack and defense teams, such as simulated military exercises. While HLA provides services that standardize and optimize data access, there is no standardized way to control access to sensitive data transmitted within the distributed simulation environment. This paper presents a new approach for implementing data access authorization in an HLA-based distributed simulation, where the use of topic-based access profiles in the HLA middleware message distribution is explored. Experiments conducted with the Portico open-source middleware demonstrate that the proposed approach ensures security and optimizes data access by limiting data delivery per profile through a pre-configured security policy.References
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Andrews, D., Wharington, J., and Stratton, D. (2008). Secproxy-a proposed security architecture for the hla. In Simulation Technology and Training Conference Proceddings. Citeseer.
Falcone, A. and Garro, A. (2023). A topic-based data distribution management for hla. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications (SIMULTECH 2023), pages 186–193.
Falcone, A., Garro, A., Anagnostou, A., and Taylor, S. J. (2017). An introduction to developing federations with the high level architecture (hla). In 2017 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC), pages 617–631. IEEE.
IEEE (2010a). Ieee standard for modeling and simulation (m&s) high level architecture (hla)– federate interface specification. IEEE Std 1516.1-2010 (Revision of IEEE Std 1516.1-2000), pages 1–378.
IEEE (2010b). Ieee standard for modeling and simulation (m&s) high level architecture (hla)– framework and rules. IEEE Std 1516-2010 (Revision of IEEE Std 1516-2000), pages 1–38.
IEEE (2010c). Ieee standard for modeling and simulation (m&s) high level architecture (hla)– object model template (omt) specification. IEEE Std 1516-2010 (Revision of IEEE Std 1516.2-2000), pages 1–110.
IEEE (2022). Ieee recommended practice for distributed simulation engineering and execution process (dseep. IEEE Std 1730-2022 (Revision of IEEE Std 1730-2010), pages 1–74.
Möller, B., Croom-Johnson, S., Hartog, T., Huiskamp, W., Verkoelen, C., Jones, G., and Bennett, M. (2012). Security in nato collective mission training-problem analysis and solutions. In Spring Simulation Interoperability Workshop 2012, 2012 Spring SIW, 26-30 March 2012, Orlando, FL, USA, page 217.
Möller, B., Karlsson, M., Herzog, R., and Wood, D. (2021). Security in simulation-new authorization opportunities in hla 4. In Proceedings of the 2021 Virtual Simulation Innovation Workshop.
Morlang, F. and Strassburger, S. (2022). On the role of hla-based simulation in new space. In 2022 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC), pages 430–440. IEEE.
Nakamura, S., Ogiela, L., Enokido, T., and Takizawa, M. (2018). An information flow control model in a topic-based publish/subscribe system. Journal of High Speed Networks, 24(3):243–257.
OpenVLC (2016). The portico project. [link]. Acessado em 22/03/2025.
Sandhu, R. S. (1998). Role-based access control. In Advances in computers, volume 46, pages 237–286. Elsevier.
SISO (2025). Hla 4 approved by ieee – simulation interoperability standards organization. [link]. Acessado em 22/03/2025.
Slaghenaufi, X., Amaral, R. P., and Nunes, R. C. (2019). A combined structure for security in distributed simulation. In 2019 9th Latin-American Symposium on Dependable Computing (LADC), pages 1–4. IEEE.
Taylor, S. J. E. (2019). Distributed simulation: state-of-the-art and potential for operational research. Eur. J. Oper. Res., 273:1–19.
Published
2025-07-20
How to Cite
GRESSLER, Henrique O.; BRITES, Alexandre C.; NUNES, Raul Ceretta.
Topic-Based Access Profiles for Distributed HLA Simulation. In: INTEGRATED SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE SEMINAR (SEMISH), 52. , 2025, Maceió/AL.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2025
.
p. 239-250.
ISSN 2595-6205.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/semish.2025.8299.
