Evidential signal processing for low-level sensor fusion

A novel signal representation based on the theory of evidential reasoning was developed. This model, referred to as an evidential signal, represents many competing or overlapping discrete signal hypotheses within a single entity. Evidential signals may be processed much like an ordinary discrete signal and are best suited to Bayesian-like hypothesis testing in the absence of prior knowledge. Sum, product, and correlation operations on evidential signals and, in addition, a fusion operation that has no direct analogy in standard signal processing are defined. Simulations demonstrate the application of these principles to a multisensor detection problem