<title>Data fusion handoff within a federation of fusion systems</title>

Abstract

As the military continues to move forward with an increased number of sensor and fusion systems, it becomes necessary for these systems to be able to communicate efficiently and effectively. In these environments there are multiple sensor and fusion systems that in the past have operated independently of one another. As an increasing number of systems become available, eventually an overlap in the coverage area occurs between these fusion systems. This results in a need for coordination between these semi-autonomous fusion systems. Short of a complete redesign of all the fusion systems, a solution is required to address the handoff of data between these systems. The primary goal of this paper is to describe a data fusion handoff capability that is able to augment these existing systems. This is accomplished by the use of a Handoff Manager that is added to each fusion system. The Handoff Manager is responsible for developing a global representation the track information displayed onboard its own fusion system that is common with the other members of the federation of fusion systems. This is accomplished by using a global track numbering scheme that requires communication and adjudication between the multiple Handoff Manager components that are present on the different fusion systems within the federation. This paper will define the data fusion handoff problem and describe our approach for handling the data fusion handoff problem within the context of overlapping and non-overlapping sensor environments. We will conclude with a discussion of results for a sample problem and of the path forward.© (2007) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.