초록 ▼

The invented apparatus fuses two or more sensor signals to generate a fused signal with an improved confidence of target existence and position. The invented apparatus includes gain, control and fusion units, and can also include an integration unit. The integration unit receives signals generated b

The invented apparatus fuses two or more sensor signals to generate a fused signal with an improved confidence of target existence and position. The invented apparatus includes gain, control and fusion units, and can also include an integration unit. The integration unit receives signals generated by two or more sensors, and generates integrated signals based on the sensor signals. The integration unit performs temporal and weighted spatial integration of the sensor signals, to generate respective sets of integrated signals supplied to the gain control and fusion units. The gain control unit uses a preprogrammed function to map the integrated signals to an output signal that is scaled to generate a gain signal supplied to the fusion unit. The fusion unit uses a preprogrammed function to map its received integrated signals and the gain signal, to a fused signal that is the output of the invented apparatus. The weighted spatial integration increases the fused signal's sensitivity to near detections and suppresses response to detections relatively distant in space and time, from a detection of interest. The gain control and fusion functions likewise suppress the fused signal's response to low-level signals, but enhances response to high-level signals. In addition, the gain signal is generated from signals integrated over broad limits so that, if a detection occurred near in space or time to a detection of interest, the gain signal will cause the fused signal to be more sensitive to the level of the detection of interest.

대표청구항 ▼

[ We claim:] [21.] An apparatus for use with first and second sensor signals from first and second sensors, respectively, that sense a target in an environment, the apparatus comprising:an integration unit coupled to receive the first and second sensor signals, generating first integrated signals ba

[ We claim:] [21.] An apparatus for use with first and second sensor signals from first and second sensors, respectively, that sense a target in an environment, the apparatus comprising:an integration unit coupled to receive the first and second sensor signals, generating first integrated signals based on the first and second sensor signals, and generating second integrated signals based on the first and second sensor signals;a gain control unit coupled to receive the first integrated signals, and generating a gain signal based on the the first integrated signals; anda fusion unit coupled to receive the gain signal from the gain control unit, and coupled to receive the second integrated signals from the integration unit, the fusion unit generating a fused signal, based on the gain signal and the second integrated signals.