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The potential of the new language of Java is explored in the development of a decentralized target tracking simulator. Three particular features of the Java language prompted this initial investigation, namely that it is fully object- oriented, graphical user interfaces (GUIs) may be simply constructed, and it is Internet compatible. In the context of this paper, the full power of Java's object-oriented design is harnessed to reflect the inherent modularity of decentralized tracking systems. This enables, for example, tracks with their associated information structures, and platforms with their associated tracks, to be encapsulated within advanced data structures, or classes. An easy-to-build GUI, based on Java's abstract windowing toolkit (AWT), permits the end-user to rapidly configure a test scenario by selecting simulation variables from pop-up menus, such as the number of sensor platforms, the number of targets, and the type of target trajectory. Additionally, Java's Internet compatibility allows the simulation, in principle, to be accessed remotely. Development work on the Java tracking simulator is described, and illustrated in terms of pseudo-code and screen snapshots. We conclude that in terms of our long-range goal of constructing a simulator that can aid the investigation of decentralized systems under a range of world scenarios and operating conditions, Java shows considerable promise.
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