Progress in the theory of continuum fusion

Abstract

The continuum fusion (CF) methodology for producing detection algorithms is generalized to include a new class of theoretical problems not considered previously by any published methods. The current CF formalism distinguishes two types of epistemic unknowns for binary composite hypothesis (CH) testing problems. One type is associated with a target (hypothesis H1), the other with the clutter (hypothesis H0). Older methods, including the GLR and invariant methods, treat the two types of parameters as independent of each other. Here a new type of parameter is introduced, which is shared jointly with both hypotheses. In many common applications, this is a distinction imposed by the physical models that generate the hypothesis test. Furthermore, it is a distinction not recognized by traditional methods, but is treated naturally in the CF formalism. Examples are described where models with such shared parameters produce optimal detectors, while the older methods perform at extremely degraded levels. © (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.