Data-fusion systems help ease 'information overload'.

• Author: Burwell, John
• Position: Industry Viewpoint

The visualization, high-performance computing and networking technologies initially developed for the simulation and training market now are being applied to command-and-control systems, to help commanders make decisions faster.

Command-and-control systems today provide operational commanders with a real-time, common and accurate view of the environment in which their forces operate. The tools enable the military commanders to know the location of friendly and enemy forces. Command and control is about knowing what assets are available and how to bring them to bear on the mission.

Meanwhile, the proliferation of sensors in the battlefield has created what is known as "data overload."

Signals, imagery and human intelligence can be available to the commander at or near real-time speeds. As more sensors are put into the field, more data is captured that can be analyzed for the purposes of enhancing the decision-making process. There is a risk, however, that a large inflow of data could jeopardize the decision-making process, if the information is not managed properly.

Today, there is an abundance of data, but a shortage of information that supports the decision-making process. In the future, the amount of data will continue to grow, as more sources and sensors become available. The data typically includes text, video, audio, imagery scans, electronic emissions and other geo-referenced data to support a variety of command-and-control applications.

Graphical representations--highlighting differences between data types and sizes--turn data into information. Military applications, where each piece of data can have a geo-spatial element, are served well by the ability to graphically represent the relative locations of people and objects.

Simply stated, using computer graphics, logistics information can be overlaid on maps. Positions of friendly forces can be represented pictorially on accurate and realistic three-dimensional terrain. Signal data can be fused with imagery to show the locations of transmissions. Video taken from unmanned aerial vehicles can be visually referenced to map locations where the video was taken.

To deal with this data overload problem, enhanced capabilities are required to manage, correlate, fuse and visualize data, in order to help commanders see the threat. The challenge for today's military commanders is that they are inundated by too much data and not enough information.

Visualization and computing technologies are now...