UCCM Phase II
Abstract
The BAMS (Broad Area Maritime Surveillance UAS) will be the Navy's next-generation surveillance platform, able to collect far more data than it can send. The data is not of equal value, and the determination of what is valuable dynamically changes during a mission. UCCM (User-Centered Communications Manager) is a software program that sits between the BAMS' different sensors and the radio system to determine what data to send at each moment. UCCM computes a priority for each potential transmission based on a small number of carefully selected factors. The priority number is a proxy for the current value of that data to the operator, and is dynamically maintained on a priority queue. Each time the radio is ready for a new transmission, it pops the priority queue to get the most valuable data it should send. There is always a default prioritization in place, but the operator can either select items directly (select an image) or indirectly by selecting policies and changing thresholds. Simulation experiments show that UCCM exhibits many desirable properties. UCCM preferentially sends more recent data first, and sends older items on a bandwidth-available basis. UCCM provides simple means for operators to select images, and avoids downloads of useless images of clouds and fog. UCCM efficiently manages its queue despite potentially overwhelming influxes of readings. Each type of sensor reading has a natural "shelf life." If a reading becomes sufficiently old, UCCM just deletes it. UCCM successfully maximizes the value of data downloaded to the operator, in highly variable situations, using the operator's choices about value.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA531898
Entities
People
- Allan Terry