An integrated navigation system manager using federated Kalman filtering

A federated Kalman filter architecture has been developed in which the Kalman filter processing is distributed among the navigation sensors to be integrated. Each navigation sensor with its Kalman filter can, in conjunction with the reference INS (Inertial Navigation System), be considered as a subsystem which functions as an independent manager. A central data fusion function is used to integrate the information from these navigators. Such a federated architecture can offer a number of advantages over one with a single central Kalman filter. These advantages include improved failure detection and correction, improved redundancy management, and lower costs for system integration. GEC Avionics has developed a system for the integration of INS with GPS (Global Positioning System) and TRN (Terrain Referenced Navigation), together with other navigation aids. Results are presented to demonstrate the performance and the benefits of using a federated approach