Course of Action Development and Evaluation

Abstract

This paper describes a set of procedures that will enhance the analysis, synthesis, and execution of courses of action (COA). The paper presents a set of formal methods for extending the capability of probabilistic models (influence nets) to produce rigorous mathematical models that reveal the impact of the sequence and timing of actionable events on the outcome and effects desired in a situation. By incorporating timing information, such a model can be converted to a Discrete Event System (DES) model in the form of a Colored Petri Net. The DES model, when run as a simulation, can reveal the changes in the likelihood of the desired effects over time for any timed sequence of actionable events that constitute a COA. The paper presents DES analysis techniques that can generate all of the possible sequences of probability values of the outcome given any COA without simulation. Procedures are presented to select desirable sequences from the set of all sequences and determine the temporal relationships among the actionable events that will generate a selected sequence of probability values.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADA464444

Entities

People

  • Alexander H. Levis
  • Lee W. Wagenhals

Organizations

  • George Mason University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Application Software
  • Bayesian Networks
  • Command And Control
  • Computer Science
  • Defense Systems
  • Mathematical Models
  • Military Operations
  • Models
  • Petri Nets
  • Probabilistic Models
  • Probability
  • Simulations
  • Standards
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Theoretical Computer Science

Readers

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Theoretical Analysis.