Netted Full Spectrum Sensors

Under the Netted Full Spectrum Sensors (NFSS) Phase I SBIR, Scientific Research Corporation (SRC) evaluated current and planned battlefield sensor systems architectures and protocols. These sensor systems have a number of limitations, including:Sensor placement and number of sensors are limited by communications rangeMobility of Sensors and Collection Points is not supportedCollection Point is a bottleneck and single point of failureMultiple sensor physical and logical interfacesInformation fusion done at the Collection Point (or higher)In Phase I, SRC analyzed other possible sensor architectures and protocols and recommended improvements for a Netted Full Spectrum Sensor System.This Phase II proposal details a work plan for developing and demonstrating a NFSS System by leveraging SRC's MobileRouteT wireless protocol and developing some modular components. These networked components will support interchangeability of sensors andradios and provide for automatic discovery of sensor capabilities and system management. The resulting system will meet CECOM's program objective to develop a multi-intelligence system that:makes use of a full suite of sensors;has a flexible architecture;can be integrated with C2 systems; andis capable of long term emplacement and remote query. The NFSS System will provide a significant new battlefield sensor system capability for the Army and other services and Government agencies (including upgrades to REMBASS, Prophet, etc.). Benefits ofthe proposed NFSS System include:¿ Ad hoc (automatic) network establishment¿ All sensors, collection points and display/control points participate in the network¿ Each node can route information to/from other nodes¿ Sensor placement not limited by line-of-sight communications¿ Number of sensor arrays not limited by communications range¿ Support for redundant collection points to eliminate single point of failure¿ Mobility of nodes (e.g., warfighter as well as sensors)¿ Allows for low- or adaptive-power communications (for LPI and energy efficiency)¿ Supports local data fusion within sensor groups for reduced false alarmsPhysical security systems are a significant and timely commercial application for the NFSS System capabilities, especially infrastructure protection (e.g., airports, power plants, etc.) and temporary emplacements (e.g., for large public events).