Advanced Radar Data Fusion - Multiple Input Multiple Output Sensor Acquisition (MIMOSA) System

Radar targets provide a rich scattering environment that produces from 5-25 dB target fluctuations. The spatial dependence of target scattering means that targets produce essentially independent scattering returns when radiated from sufficiently different directions. Thus, if receivers are distributed over a wide enough area, which is the premise of the multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radar concept, the angular spread of the scattering can be exploited to obtain improved target tracking performance by combining these independent looks at the target. MIMOSA applies MIMO technologies leading to the development of a novel capability to autonomously collect, process, and fuse information from a variety of radars (either at the same or different frequencies and multiple perspectives) and from other sensors to form a single integrated picture of the surveillance volume. This provides an accurate and reliable method to support acquisition, track, discrimination, and engagement objectives of threatening objects across a spectrum of threat classes and environments, to obtain an accurate picture of the adversary threat cloud than any single sensor or group of sensors operating independently can offer.