A conceptual database design and performance analysis of the MILSATCOM requirements database

• Main Author: Kearns, Ronald G.
• Other Authors: Dolk, Daniel R.
• Language: en_US
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2014
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/39799

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. === The Military Satellite Communications Decision Support System (MDSS) project for U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) is intended to provide decision makers an integrated information tool to effectively manage military satellite communication (MILSATCOM) resources while satisfying communications requirements. An important aspect of MDSS is the information provided by the MILSATCOM Requirements Database (MRDB). The objective of this thesis is twofold. First, it develops a new conceptual schema for the MRDB using the Entity Relationship Model and transforms it into a relational schema for implementation. Second, it conducts a comparative performance analysis to examine the tradeoffs between normalization and performance. This thesis concludes that a structured approach to designing the MRDB results in a normalized structure that is simple, easy to implement, and provides acceptable performance. A fully normalized database structure does not seem to have a significant impact on over-all MRDB retrieval performance.