Using Multi-core Processing to Deliver Better Intelligence

The rapidly evolving and changing asymmetric threats confronting the U.S. military are dramatically escalating demands for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). Even unsophisticated countries are gaining access to relatively inexpensive, high technology weapons. In turn, the future weapon systems that low-level tactical units will be combating will be radically improved, and perhaps entirely different than those we attempt to understand today.

To address these volatile threats, the Department of Defense (DoD) is increasingly funding ISR Quick Reaction Capabilities (QRC). This new acquisition model challenges tactical system developers to rapidly deliver cost-effective, high-performance ISR systems while balancing stringent size, weight and power (SWaP) program requirements. In response, ISR system developers are attempting to contain costs, shrink development schedules, and reduce risk as new procurement contracts trend toward fixed-price and away from cost-plus-fixed-fee. These shifts in the military procurement landscape are driving ISR solution providers to leverage pre-integrated, multi-core, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) subsystems.

Closing the ISR Collection-Analysis Gap

To keep pace with the outsize demand, the data collection capacity of tactical ISR systems has risen exponentially over the past few years and will continue into the foreseeable future based on the effect of Moore’s Law. Even so, ISR data processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED) manning resources have only increased linearly over the same period, leaving a critical gap between collection and analysis capabilities as shown in Figure 1. The outcome is perishable ISR data going unprocessed and/or unexploited and fleeting enemy targets being missed.

To effectively close the ISR collection-analysis gap, the warfighter needs innovative approaches to automate the PED of perishable ISR data to provide mission-critical, real-time actionable intelligence. The harsh reality is that the vast data volumes greatly exceed the ISR sensor platform’s ability to transmit the data over bandwidth-constrained wireless communication links in real time. Therefore, the result is likely to be a delay in the remote tactical operations center’s high-performance processing, analysis, and fusion.

Automated signal and image processing of ISR data must be performed onboard the sensor platform. By sifting through electronic chaff, the process delivers tactical information that can be transmitted over low-bandwidth communication pipes. Remote, centralized processing stations can then automatically correlate and fuse the data with other ISR sources to provide actionable intelligence to the soldier in the field.