ABSTRACT
Multisensor data fusion has an extensive history and has become a relatively mature discipline. Traditional information fusion systems involving user-owned and controlled sensor networks, an established system and information architecture for sensor tasking, data collection, fusion, dissemination, and decision making are being enhanced or replaced by dynamic, ad hoc information collection, dissemination, and fusion concepts. Automated fusion of data fusion requires a combination of processing algorithms, computers capable of executing the fusion algorithms, deployed sensor systems, communication networks to link the sensors and computing capabilities, and systems engineering methods for effective system design, development, deployment, and test and evaluation. The originators of the Joint Directors of Laboratories (JDL) model fully recognized that the JDL levels were an artificial partitioning of the data fusion functions and that the levels overlap. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
