Automated Acoustic Information Classification System (AAICS) for ASW

The mission of passive undersea surveillance is to classify potential threats by examining the acoustic signatures of detected sources. Current methods are based on visual examination and operator translation of the acoustic scene. With the ongoing reduction in Navy personnel, an automated system requiring minimal operator interaction with improved classification capabilities will be needed to support current and future automated surveillance requirements. In the past many attempts have been made to develop and automated classification system. These systems generally failed, primarily due to lack of acoustic expert involvement in the development of these classification systems. Additionally, front-end processors were inappropriately designed and did not provide information required by the classifier to produce high-confidence results. ORINCON has successfully developed and demonstrated prototype automated undersea surveillance systems utilizing expert processors on both SPAWAR and DARPA programs, such as the Automated Surveillance Information Processing Systems (ASIPS) and the 7100 Site Evaluation System. In Phase I we will apply our extensive experience in developing automated detection and classification systems to design an information processor (IP) and utilize in-house experts to develop the associated rulebases required to perform automated classification. In Phase II, a prototype system will be developed to demonstrate this concept.