Developing paradigms of data fusion for sensor-actuator networks that perform engineering tasks

Abstract

In this article we provided a new foundation for data fusion based on two concepts: a conceptual framework and the goal-seeking paradigm. The conceptual framework emphasizes the dominant structures in the system. The goal-seeking paradigm is a mechanism for representing system evolution that explicitly manages uncertainty. The goal-seeking formulation for data fusion helps to distinguish between subjective decisions that resolve uncertainty by involving humans and objective decisions that can be executed by computers. These notions are useful for critical tasks such as security management in large-scale distributed systems. Investigations in this area, and further refinement of the goal-seeking formulation for instrumentation and measurement applications, are likely to lead to future systems that facilitate holistic user decision making.