System for Software-Defined Navigation(TM) (SDN(TM))

An increasing number of civilian and military platforms rely on navigation systems. These systems usually comprise a centralized filter, which fuses measurements from a number of different sensors and does not include a “hot-swap” capability. Hence, it is not possible to reconfigure sensor modalities on-the-fly, and changes in the sensor mixture often require time consuming hardware and/or software modifications, thereby increasing development costs. Toyon Research Corporation is proposing a Software-Defined Navigation(TM) (SDN(TM)) architecture that will permit the adding and removing of sensors without any modifications to the navigation system. The navigation architecture will also support cooperative and distributed navigation and the sharing of map information. During the Phase I effort, Toyon will develop the SDN algorithms and prepare hardware and software interface control documents (ICDs) for the system. In addition, we will design and demonstrate an exemplary personal navigation system (PNS) that conforms to the proposed modular navigation architecture. The PNS will make use of a number of sensor modalities, and its performance will be evaluated for different sensor mixtures. We will conclude the Phase I program with a PNS hardware design that will be used for the Phase II demonstration.