Command and control is central in all distributed tactical operations such as rescue operations and military operations. It takes place in a complex system of humans and artefacts, striving to reach common goals. The command and control complexity springs from several sources, including dynamism, uncertainty, risk, time pressure, feedback delays and interdependencies. Stemming from this complexity, the thesis approaches two important and related problem areas in command and control research. On a general level, the thesis seeks to approach the problems facing the command and control operators and the problems facing the designers in the associated systems development process. We investigate the specific problem of operators losing sight of the overall perspective when working with large maps in geographical information systems with limited screen area. To approach this problem, we propose high-precision input techniques that reduce the need for zooming and panning in touch-screen systems, and informative unit representations that make better use of the screen area available. The results from an experimental study show that the proposed input techniques are as fast and accurate as state-of-the-art techniques without the need to resort to zooming. Furthermore, results from a prototype design show that the proposed unit representation reduces on-screen clutter and makes use of off-screen units to better exploit the valuable screen area. Developing command and control systems is a complex task with several pitfalls, including getting stuck in exhaustive analyses and overrated reliance on rational methods. In this thesis, we employ a design-oriented research framework that acknowledges creative and pragmatic ingredients to handle the pitfalls. Our approach adopts the method of reconstruction and exploration of mission histories from distributed tactical operations as a means for command and control analysis. To support explorative analysis of mission histories within our framework, we propose tools for communication analysis and tools for managing metadata such as reflections, questions, hypotheses and expert comments. By using these tools together with real data from live tactical operations, we show that they can manage large amounts of data, preserve contextual data, support navigation within data, make original data easily accessible, and strengthen the link between metadata and supporting raw data. Furthermore, we show that by using these tools, multiple analysts, experts, and researchers can exchange comments on both data and metadata in a collaborative and explorative investigation of a complex scenario. / <p>Report code: LiU-Tek-Lic-2004:61.</p>

Thesis (M.S. in Telecommunications Systems Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 1990. / Thesis Advisor(s): Schwendtner, Thomas A. Second Reader: Davidson, K. L. "March 1990." Description based on title screen as viewed on August 25, 2009. DTIC Descriptor(s): Interception probabilities, communication and radio systems, communications networks, spectra, command and control systems, extremely high frequency, naval operations, tactical warfare, low rate, theses, scenarios, line of sight, military applications. Author(s) subject terms: Millimeter wave, EHF, Extremely High Frequency, LPI, Low Probability of Intercept. Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-70). Also available print.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): William Kemple, Dan C. Boger. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-117). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): William Kemple, Dan C. Boger. "AD-A406 190." Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-117). Also available online.

ITC/USA 2008 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Fourth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 27-30, 2008 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California / Typically, FTI projects utilise acquisition hardware from multiple vendors. There are at least three ways of facilitating their integration. The first option is to implement a series of ad hoc mechanisms customised to the software interfaces provided by each specific FTI vendor. The second option is to define a meta-data format that can be used to define hardware setup and configuration in a common way. The final option is to define a common software architecture that prescribes a set of interfaces and services through which vendor hardware can be configured, and measurement data retrieved. This paper discusses the pros and cons of each approach and outlines the level of difficulty associated with each.

<p>This work focus on situation prediction in data fusion systems.</p><p>A hypothesis evaluation algorithm based on artificial neural networks is introduced. It is evaluated and compared to an algorithm based on Bayesian networks which is commonly used. It is also compared to a simple "dummy" algorithm.</p><p>For the tests, a computer based model of the environment, including protected objects and enemy objects, is implemented. The model handles the navigation of the enemy objects and situational data is extracted from the environment and provided for the hypothesis evaluation algorithms.</p><p>It was the belief of the author that ANNs would be suitable for hypothesis evaluation if a suitable data representation of the environment were used. The representation requirements include pre processing of the situational data to eliminate the need for variable input size to the algorithm. This because ANNs poorly handles this; the whole network have to be retrained each time the amount of input data changes.</p><p>The results show that ANNs performed best of the three and hence seems to be suitable for hypothesis evaluation.</p>

This work focus on situation prediction in data fusion systems. A hypothesis evaluation algorithm based on artificial neural networks is introduced. It is evaluated and compared to an algorithm based on Bayesian networks which is commonly used. It is also compared to a simple "dummy" algorithm. For the tests, a computer based model of the environment, including protected objects and enemy objects, is implemented. The model handles the navigation of the enemy objects and situational data is extracted from the environment and provided for the hypothesis evaluation algorithms. It was the belief of the author that ANNs would be suitable for hypothesis evaluation if a suitable data representation of the environment were used. The representation requirements include pre processing of the situational data to eliminate the need for variable input size to the algorithm. This because ANNs poorly handles this; the whole network have to be retrained each time the amount of input data changes. The results show that ANNs performed best of the three and hence seems to be suitable for hypothesis evaluation.

A research project investigating microwave radio frequency propagation in a 500 mile link across the Gulf of Mexico requires a remote-control process to command microcontroller-based devices including power control modules and antenna feedhorn positioners, and to telemeter system parameters back to the operators. The solution that was developed is a simple, webserver-based user-interface that can be accessed both locally and remotely via the internet. To interface the webservers with the microcontroller-based devices, a polling protocol, based on MODBUS, was developed that provides an efficient command and telemetry link over a serial RS-485 interface.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 18-20, 1966 / Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California / This paper reports on the investigation of the effect of telemetry receivers capture ratio on overall system accuracy. Receivers with normal and improved capture ratio were compared to evaluate the methods used to measure capture ratio, determine the effect of I-F filter characteristics on capture ratio, and establish the penalty of bandwidth and distortion results including waveforms, photographs and spectral diagrams for various values of co-channel interference.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 02-04, 1967 / Marriott Motor Hotel, Washington, D.C. / An increasing number of telemetry systems have considerable distance between receiving sites and main ground stations, resulting in a need for multichannel wide-band communications systems. An operational system is described which permits the wide-band DC to 120 kHz video or predetection IF 450 kHz ±150 kHz signals from six receivers to be transmitted over one land line to the remote ground station.