Unified Multichannel-Multiplatform-Multisensor SIAP

Dynamic sensor management of disparate and physically dispersed mobile sensors presents a daunting theoretical and practical challenge, especially when they are embedded in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). Tasking of sensors is constrained by their own physical characteristics and those of their platforms; by communications constraints; by target information value; by the information value of the sensors themselves; and by the tradeoff between surveillance and search. The Scientific Systems Company, Inc. (SSCI) team proposes a foundational, control-theoretic approach to dynamic SIAP resource management of fixed or platform-borne netted sensors. Our approach is based on five innovations: (1) a multisensor-multitarget likelihood function that encapsulates all relevant information regarding the characteristics of the various sensors situated on various platforms and various nodes of a MANET; (2) a dynamic "tactical importance function" (TIF) that mathematically specifies the meaning of "tactical significance" for a given theater at a given moment; (3)an intuitively meaningful sensor management objective function, the expected number of ToIs (targets of interest), that inherently optimizes multisource data fusion; (4) integration of these concepts with approximate multitarget detection and tracking filters; and (5) theoretically rigorous incorporation of the constraints due to sensor kinematics, platform kinematics, and communication-systems topologies and characteristics. The project team includes Dr. Ronald Mahler of Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin will provide both technical and commercialization support in the application of sensor management technologies during all phases of the project.