ABSTRACT
The task of navigation interacts with multiple avionics functions. The goal of navigation has long progressed far beyond mere determination of geographic location. Efforts to obtain double and triple “mileage” from inertial instruments, by integrating nav with sensor stabilization and flight control, are over a decade old. For tracking, first, consider the uncoupled case already described, wherein each of three separate estimator channels corresponds to a sensor reference axis direction—and each channel has three kinematically related states, representing that directional component of relative position, relative velocity, and total acceleration of the tracked object. This extension to the “Navigation and Tracking” chapter in earlier editions of the Avionics Handbook can begin with a brief historical perspective. Much of the methodology needed for nav integration was developed decades ago. Therefore, the tracking performance is an essential component of aircraft surveillance applications, in particular conflict detection and resolution methods.
