Managing Telemetry Information in the New Era of Test and Evaluation

Abstract

Terms like efficiency, quick response, and interoperability are becoming the bywords of the test and evaluation (T&E) community as the Defense Department tightens its corporate belt [1]. These changes mark the end of an era of manual processes and duplication of effort and the beginning of an era of cooperation, standards, and Total Quality Management (TQM). Managing the huge volume of telemetry information required to support flight test at the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) has required new paradigms and system development strategies. These new ideas have resulted in the Aircraft Information Management System (AIMS), a system designed to meet the challenges of a new era in T&E. This paper discusses the AIMS design and function as background for the deeper issue of effective, efficient management of telemetry setup information. The information history model used in AIMS is presented and discussed. In the process of developing standards for the AIMS a methodology was discovered and successfully implemented for resolving information management issues in the framework of system development.