INVESTIGATION OF PRECISION TRACKING PLATFORM FOR PORTABLE TSPI

THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION POSTULATES SEVERAL CANDIDATE CONCEPTS FOR A PORTABLE TIME-SPACE-POSITION-INFORMATION (TSPI) SYSTEM, EVALUATES EACH CANDIDATE AND SELECTS ONE OR MORE CONCEPTS WHICH SATISFY AIR FORCE COST AND PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS. THE INVESTIGATION ALSO EXAMINES ADVANCED REAL-TIME TSPI DATA PROCESSING TECHNIQUES AND SPECIAL PURPOSE COMPUTER ARCHITECTURES FOR IMPLEMENTING ADVANCED TRACKING ALGORITHMS. THIS STUDY ALSO INCLUDES THE USE OF GLODAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) AND ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION CALIBRATION TECHNIQUES (E.G., STAR CALIBRATION). THE PRINCIPAL DRIVERS FOR THE STUDY ARE LIMITATIONS IN THE CAPABILITIES OF CURRENT FIXED BASE INSTRUMENTS. THESE LIMITATIONS INCLUDE DEGRADED COVERAGE AND ACCURACY AT LOW ALTITUDE, WHICH LIMITS THEIR USEFULNESS FOR TESTING AT REMOTE SITES.