A temporal-spatial data fusion architecture for monitoring complex systems

Non-homogenous systems arise from the need to incorporate a variety of disparate systems into a cohesive functioning whole and may comprise many crucial elements of an industrialized, modern society. As a result they must be constantly monitored to ensure efficient functioning and avoid expensive breakdowns. In particular, inter-connected computer-based systems must increasingly be aware of cyber and physical threats that are dynamic and evolutionary in nature. However, difficulties arise in trying to ascertain threats and problems among the diverse sources of information generated by these systems. Finally, there is the question of how best to present this data to a human operator. Human systems require not just analysis, but presentation which encourages timely, proactive or corrective decisions. This paper presents a software architecture to solve these problems based upon data fusion using temporal-spatial relationships. As phase one of a three phase project, a prototype implementation of this architecture demonstrates application of this technique for a cohesive system. Test results showed the system capable of real-time fusion of physical, cyber and process data elements as well as analysis, display and interpretation of threats.