1st Edition

Distributed Data Fusion for Network-Centric Operations

    498 Pages 122 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    498 Pages 122 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    With the recent proliferation of service-oriented architectures (SOA), cloud computing technologies, and distributed-interconnected systems, distributed fusion is taking on a larger role in a variety of applications—from environmental monitoring and crisis management to intelligent buildings and defense. Drawing on the work of leading experts around the world, Distributed Data Fusion for Network-Centric Operations examines the state of the art of data fusion in a distributed sensing, communications, and computing environment.

    Get Insight into Designing and Implementing Data Fusion in a Distributed Network

    Addressing the entirety of information fusion, the contributors cover everything from signal and image processing, through estimation, to situation awareness. In particular, the work offers a timely look at the issues and solutions involving fusion within a distributed network enterprise. These include critical design problems, such as how to maintain a pedigree of agents or nodes that receive information, provide their contribution to the dataset, and pass to other network components. The book also tackles dynamic data sharing within a network-centric enterprise, distributed fusion effects on state estimation, graph-theoretic methods to optimize fusion performance, human engineering factors, and computer ontologies for higher levels of situation assessment.

    A comprehensive introduction to this emerging field and its challenges, the book explores how data fusion can be used within grid, distributed, and cloud computing architectures. Bringing together both theoretical and applied research perspectives, this is a valuable reference for fusion researchers and practitioners. It offers guidance and insight for those working on the complex issues of designing and implementing distributed, decentralized information fusion.

    Perspectives on Distributed Data Fusion
    David L. Hall

    Distributed Data Fusion: Overarching Design Concerns and Some New Approaches
    David Nicholson, Steven Reece, Alex Rogers, Stephen Roberts, and Nick Jennings

    Network-Centric Concepts: Impacts to Distributed Fusion System Design
    James Llinas

    Distributed Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks
    Pramod K. Varshney, Engin Masazade, Priyadip Ray, and Ruixin Niu

    Fundamentals of Distributed Estimation
    Chee-Yee Chong, Kuo-Chu Chang, and Shozo Mori

    Essence of Distributed Target Tracking: Track Fusion and Track Association
    Shozo Mori, Kuo-Chu Chang, and Chee-Yee Chong

    Decentralized Data Fusion: Formulation and Algorithms
    Paul Thompson, Eric Nettleton, and Hugh Durrant-Whyte

    Toward a Theoretical Foundation for Distributed Fusion
    Ronald Mahler

    Object Classification in a Distributed Environment
    James Llinas and Chee-Yee Chong

    A Framework for Distributed High-Level Fusion
    Subrata Das

    Threat Analysis in Distributed Environments
    Hengameh Irandoust, Abder Benaskeur, Jean Roy, and Froduald Kabanza

    Ontological Structures for Higher Levels of Distributed Fusion
    Mieczyslaw M. Kokar, Brian E. Ulicny, and Jakub J. Moskal

    Service-Oriented Architecture for Human-Centric Information Fusion
    Jeff Rimland

    Nonmyopic Sensor Management
    Viswanath Avasarala and Tracy Mullen

    Test and Evaluation of Distributed Data and Information Fusion Systems and Processes
    James Llinas, Christopher Bowman, and Kedar Sambhoos

    Human Engineering Factors in Distributed and Net-Centric Fusion Systems
    Ann Bisantz, Michael Jenkins, and Jonathan Pfautz

    Distributed Data and Information Fusion in Visual Sensor Networks
    Federico Castanedo, Juan Gomez-Romero, Miguel A. Patricio, Jesus Garcia, and Jose M. Molina

    Index

    Biography

    Dr. David L. Hall is the dean for The Pennsylvania State University College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST). He also serves as a professor of IST and director of the Center for Network Centric Cognition and Information Fusion (NC2IF). Dr. Hall has industrial experience and has lectured internationally on the topics of multisensor data fusion, artificial intelligence, and research management and technology forecasting.

    Dr. Chee-Yee Chong is a chief scientist at BAE Systems Technology Solutions. He has been involved in distributed fusion research for over 25 years, starting with the Distributed Sensor Networks (DSN) program for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the 1980s. Dr. Chong’s research interests include centralized and distributed estimation, target tracking, information fusion, optimization and resource management, and application to real-world problems.

    Dr. James Llinas is a professor emeritus at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He created the Center for Multisource Information Fusion (CMIF) at the University at Buffalo, the only university research center conducting information fusion research in a systemic context, and is currently director emeritus of the Center. An expert on data fusion, he has lectured internationally on the subject for over 20 years, co-authored the first integrated text on information fusion, and has consulted extensively and internationally for many years.

    Martin E. Liggins II is an engineer with The MITRE Corporation. He has more than 20 years of research and development experience in industry and with the U.S. Department of Defense. He has performed fusion research in a number of areas, including sensor and data fusion, multisensor and multitarget tracking, radar, high-performance computing, and program management.

    "... a collection of chapters from leading thinkers in this emerging field ... This book represents the best body of thinking on the emerging topic of distributed data fusion, including varied aspects of the problem itself and a multitude of approaches to address the stated challenges."
    —Dale Walsh, The MITRE Corporation, Gainesville, Virginia, USA

    "This book addresses a very timely topic—the confluence of the emerging networked sensing and fusion, which leads to distributed data fusion of network-centric operations. ... The list of authors in this book reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ in the field ... . Consequently, this book is very comprehensive and covers all the important topics needed by researchers in this area. Another attractive aspect of this book is that the list of authors includes theoreticians as well as practitioners of data fusion and network-centric systems. This provides the reader with the best of both worlds and some very unique perspectives."
    —Raja Suresh, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, USA

    "This book provides a comprehensive introduction and detailed design descriptions of the methods for distributing the data fusion functions within grid, distributed, and cloud computing architectures."
    —Ed Waltz, BAE Systems, Chantilly, Virginia, USA

    "Written in a manner that particularly highlights topics of direct relevance to a Department of Defense reader ... As is typical for these editors, the chapters provide a well-organized, thorough review of the field from both a theoretical and applied research perspective. The book will most certainly serve as a useful tool for fusion researchers and practitioners alike as we continue to grapple with the critical issue of ensuring our data collection efforts have a clear and positive impact on mission outcome."
    —From the Foreword by Barbara D. Broome, Chief, Information Sciences Division, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi Laboratory Center, Maryland, USA