ABSTRACT

Surveillance networks can be viewed at many levels of abstraction. E¡ective systems must adapt at each level. Ÿese networks will be composed of a large number of autonomous, possibly heterogeneous, devices. At the highest level of abstraction, all devices must work in a coordinated manner as if they were a single entity. User interests vary dynamically. Top-down control is needed to ensure that tasks performed by the network ful¢ll operational requirements. Speci¢c regions and/or target types will be of interest sometimes, but not at others. Connectivity maintenance requires high-level coordination.