A Systematic Mode Approach to Multi-Sensor Integration

The purpose of this paper is to present some basic development and analysis tools intended to support multi-sensor integration on airplatforms. This involves characterizing the weapon control system in terms of discrete units representing individual sensors and processes. Each contributor's capabilities and limitations are determined and organized as elements in a contributor matrix. These elements then become the fundamental “building block” from which system modes are created. Modes are a result from consideration of specific needs and represent the best possible solution given avionic suite constraints. Mode optimization is based upon individual and often highly variable contributor performance as dictated by the operational situation. This approach is further demonstrated by a detailed example of sensor integration on the F-14D.