Implementing multiple priorities in a publish-subscribe system for netcentric applications

There are many considerations when designing a publish-subscribe system, including the choice of the underlying implementation technologies, the configuration and deployment of applications and the types of subscriptions. Employing a publish-subscribe approach to network-centric (netcentric) applications with an underlying hub-and-spoke network architecture introduces additional considerations. The system may be distributed across multiple computers, in separate locations. Many publish-subscribe systems identify and fulfill different types of subscriptions, but do not address multiple priorities of messages. To handle multi-priority messages requires identifying application message types and defining their flow through the system to satisfy real- and near-real-time requirements. This paper discusses the design options when organizing a multi-priority publish-subscribe information distribution system, and explores the hypes of messages required to support netcentric applications using such a system. It then presents an initial implementation as proof of concept for the multi-priority publishing using Java technologies. Typical example applications are also discussed.