US Army Selects Band XI International to Research Mobile Ad-hoc Networks with OSGi Distributed Services

WEST HARTFORD, CT. -- September 19, 2008 -- Band XI International, LLC, an agile software and systems company, today announced the award of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant. Band XI has partnered with Code 9 in developing the technology.

The topic solicitation was offered by the US Army, who seeks a stable, modular long range architectural solution to address the demands for integrated vehicle and soldier mounted battlefield and logistical computer systems.

The award supports research into the specification, design, and architecture of an open source Mobile Embedded Component Suite (MECS) that will facilitate rapid integration of devices, communications, and human machine interfaces.

Mobile Ad-hoc Network with OSGi Distributed Services (MANODS)

The objective of this reseaarch effort is to prove the technical feasibility of building a distributed services framework (DSF) that addresses the complexities associated with mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs).

1. Identify specific MANET complexities that must be addressed for the framework to be considered successful,
2. Identify standards, technologies, and associated requirements to address the hosting, discovery, advertising, and invocation of distributed services running on different computing platforms, operating systems and programming languages,
3. Identify requirements to support distributed grid/parallel computing built using the distributed services framework, and
4. Integrate our proposed solution into the OSGi framework and move for wider adoption, and
5. Analyze breadth/depth of commercial and government market opportunities, develop product development plan, and initial market strategy.

Band XI intends to develop these components in an agile manner, driven by real scenarios and through a transparent and continuous build process. The firm employs a specification by reference implementation approach, wherein any specifications, designs, or architecture decisions are supported by a running reference implementation to prove their viability.

Band XI International offers nearly a decade of experience in developing embedded Java applications that rely on a loosely coupled, highly cohesive component model. Band XI engineers have deep experience working with similar proprietary components and frameworks and know their comparative strengths and weaknesses. As a member of the Eclipse Foundation and the Open Services Gateway Initiative (OSGi), Band XI can call upon the breadth and depth of those communities for validation and assistance in bringing the Mobile Embedded Component Suite to fruition.

About Band XI International

Band XI is a small, agile, boutique problem-solving software and systems shop that specializes in using open-source and open standards-based software tools and frameworks to solve real-world problems. Band XI offers their customers years of experience crafting OSGi architected Java™ application, framework, component and tooling solutions. Band XI personnel have two decades of successful agile management and technical experience in a variety of domains, spanning mobile and embedded applications, database backed websites, and enterprise level applications.

Band XI International is a corporate member of the Agile Alliance and its staff are also members of the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN), and the Scrum Alliance. Band XI is engaged in delivering mentoring and systems delivery projects for both commercial and government customers, including the US Army.

With headquarters in West Hartford, CT and offices in Scottsdale, AZ and Bracey, VA, Band XI International supports both open source values and corporate customers' needs in a profitable, sustainable business. For more information about Band XI, please visit www.bandxi.com.

About Code 9

Code 9 is a technology company spun out of the Eclipse open source project. Our team includes people like Jeff McAffer — project leaders and committers from the Eclipse and Equinox space as well as participants in the OSGi specification process. Delivering quality, flexible, reusable software in a timely fashion is increasingly challenging. Business agility demands software agility. Flexible function sets, delivery vehicles, and execution platforms add implementation complexity while the technical landscape broadens and teams become increasingly diverse geographically and organizationally. Code 9 and its commitment to highly componentized software systems through the use of Eclipse, Equinox and OSGi help you tame these challenges. Members of the Code 9 team have been building open, flexible systems at Eclipse and elsewhere for many years. For more information about Code 9, please visit www.code9.com.

---

Band XI is a registered trademark of Band XI International, LLC in the USA and other countries. Other products mentioned may be trademarks of their respective companies.