The CIE

A shared aviation information space

The Collaborative Information Environment (CIE) concept is a secure and reliable shared information space between aircraft and ground facilities that will be created by using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) XML Web Service protocols on the Airborne Internet.

About XML Web Services

XML Web Services are software components that can be published, located, and run over the Internet using a structured and human-readable text format called Extensible Markup Language (XML). They are designed to allow applications to automatically discover, describe, and transfer data. Loosely-coupled XML Web Services arranged in a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) will be the foundation of a second-generation Web which permits computer software to collect, process, integrate, reformat, and redisplay information—unlike the current Web, which is only designed for humans to read. XML Web services enable flexible and interoperable information flows, which permit Network-Enabled Operations (NEO).

Concept Evolution

At the second meeting of the Airborne Internet Collaboration Group (AICG)—which was the precursor to the Airborne Internet Consortium—Randy Schmidt from Microsoft proposed using XML Web Service protocols to securely and reliably connect pilots in the cockpit with remote sources of information.

During this time, Craig Duncan from C3D Aero, Inc. (which is a Supporting member of the AIC) was also advocating the use of XML Web Services in aviation and extended the concept to include protocols from the Open Grid Services Architecture , which will create a distributed peer-to-peer aviation data grid.

The "Collaborative Information Environment"

At a later AICG meeting, Randy Schmidt introduced the term "Collaborative Information Environment"—which was adopted from the military—to describe the virtual space that would emerge by running XML Web Services on the Airborne Internet. Click to enlarge the following picture, which shows a conceptual diagram of the CIE architecture.

In addition, please click here to read about the benefits of the Airborne Internet and Collaborative Information Environment.