DECENTRALIZED TRACKING/CORRELATION

A CRUCIAL REQUIREMENT FOR SUCCESSFUL BATTLE MANAGEMENT IN A BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE (BMD) SYSTEM IS PERFORMANCE OF THE TRACKING/CORRELATION FUNCTION. DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE DEFENSE SYSTEM ITSELF MAY BE UNDER ATTACK, IT IS IMPORTANT TO USE A DECENTRALIZED TRACKING/CORRELATION ARCHITECTURE TO ENHANCE SURVIVABILITY. IN A DECENTRALIZED SCHEME, INDIVIDUAL SENSORS CORRELATE SENSOR DATA WITH OBJECTS AND TRACK THEM INDEPENDENTLY FROM THE OTHER SENSORS. COMPLETE TRACKS ARE SENT BY THE SENSORS TO THE WEAPON PLATFORM FOR A HIGHER LEVEL CORRELATION OF TRACKS WITH TRACKS AND MORE REFINED TRACKING (THE TRACK FUSTION FUNCTION). THIS ALSO REDUCES COMMUNICATION RATES BECAUSE TRACKS ARE BEING COMMUNICATED RATHER THAN ALL THE DATA. THE MAJOR INNOVATION PROPOSED IS TO DEVELOP A DECENTRALIZED TRACK/CORRELATION APPROACH BASED ON A NOVEL DECENTRALIZED SQUARE ROOT INFORMATION FILTER (SRIF) RECENTLY DEVELOPED BY DR. G.J. BIERMAN AND BTS. THE DECENTRALIZED SRIF OFFERS THE POTENTIAL OF GREATLY IMPROVED COMPUTATIONAL BURDEN AND NUMERICAL CONDITIONING RELATIVE TO EXISTING APPROACHES. FURTHERMORE, IT HAS THE POTENTIAL OF EFFICIENTLY HANDLING MULTIPLE SENSOR DATA RATES, WHICH EXISTING TECHNIQUES HAVE TROUBLE WITH.