Smart Data Selection

Abstract

The fundamental precept presented in the iNET Concept of Operations, v. 2007.1 is that new telemetry technologies must be created to enable a more flexible approach to testing that includes on-demand access to information acquired on the test article and the ability to reconfigure the telemetry stream definition. Significant advances have been made in this area but one approach that has not yet been addressed is a concept introduced early within the iNET CONOPS document, that "The dominant inherent nature of TM in DoD testing is sampled time-history data from an ultimately analog world, (which) is not going to change drastically regardless of how data is transmitted to ground. A factor that could change that fact most is the degree to which answers instead of data are obtained on board the test vehicle." Ultimately, the most effective way of dealing with the exponentially growing gap between the quantities of data generated onboard the test article and the rate at which it is transmitted to ground is to generate answers on board the test article. The Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) Test and Evaluation (T&E) Science and Technology (S&T) Spectrum Efficient Test (SET) Program is sponsoring development of the Smart Data Selection (SDS) system which provides a capability to continually monitor measured data and then select which parameters, or which combination of parameters, to send to ground in a given time interval, based on what is actually happening with the system under test. This paper will describe the SDS system architecture and the specialized algorithms developed to analyze and determine which data to transmit from the test article to the ground. This paper will also describe the training methods which allow the SDS system to "learn" which behaviors are "normal" and which are "abnormal". Finally, this paper will provide analysis results to substantiate the savings in bandwidth, simplified pre-test setup, and increased operator awareness. The benefits of this work, in terms of efficient use of spectrum to support T&E are substantial, and they could be leveraged by any DoD ranges that execute aeronautical and precision-guided munitions testing.