Cross-Domain Pseudo-Sensors in IBSM

The applicable (sensor) function table (AFT) is one of the 6 major components of the Information Based Sensor Management (IBSM) approach to sensor management. The AFT lists all available sensing actions from which the information instantiator (II) can downselect to an admissible set of sensor functions which are capable of satisfying an information request. The II further orders the admissible set by their expected (sensor) information value rate (EIVR-sen) for passing observation requests to the sensors. While the AFT was initially developed for hard sensors, it is becoming increasingly important to not only develop methods of characterizing soft sensors for representation in the AFT, but also for characterizing approximate contemporaneous measurements by both hard and soft sensors as AFT entries. Hard sensor entries in the AFT are reviewed. Suggestions are presented for AFT entries of several representative soft sensors. Hard and soft sensing functions are then combined where possible into cross-domain (hard/soft) pseudo-sensor entries. Additionally, brief examples are presented which demonstrate how the AFT entries may be represented in the Sensor Model Language (SML) format for improved automation of the sensor management process.