ANALYSIS OF CURRENT THREAT/CLUTTER DISCRIMINATION TECHNIQUES FOR IRST SYSTEMS

MUCH RESEARCH HAS BEEN PUBLISHED RECENTLY CONCERNING THE PROBLEM OF PROCESSING DATA COLLECTED BY IRST TYPE SENSORS. SPECIFICALLY, THE PROBLEM OF TARGET DISCRIMINATION (I.E., "THREAT" OR "NON-THREAT") HAS RECEIVED CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION. TECHNOLOGY HAS NOT KEPT PACE WITH THIS RESEARCH. MOST IR "TRACK PROCESSORS" STILL RELY UPON VARIATIONS OF THE SAME STRUCTURE AND DISCRIMINATION ALGORITHMS WHICH WERE DEVISED WITH THE ORIGINAL IR SENSORS. THESE TECHNIQUES WERE NECESSARILY SOMEWHAT AD HOC IN NATURE. THIS EFFORT WOULD PERFORM A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF DISCRIMINATION ALGORITHMS PRESENTED IN RECENT LITERATURE. THE MOST VIABLE OF THESE WILL BE EVALUATED USING A CURRENTLY EXITING, HIGHLY MODULAR TRACK PROCESSOR AS A TEST VEHICLE. CONSIDERATION WILL ALSO BE GIVEN TO THE RELATED PROBLEM OF TRACK MAINTENANCE. AN EFFECTIVE SOLUTION WILL BE PRESENTED. FINALLY, A STUDY WILL BE MADE TO ASSESS THE APPLICABILITY OF NON-VON NEUMAN ARCHITECTURE COMPUTERS TO TRACK PROCESSING. A PRELIMINARY DESIGN, BASED ON THESE STUDIES, FOR AN OPTIMAL TRACK PROCESSOR WILL RESULT.