Cloud Computing Approaches for Cognitive Coherent Networked MIMO Apertures

Cloud Computing Approaches for Cognitive Coherent Networked MIMO AperturesPROJECT SUMMARY - APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASECoherent MIMO apertures are employed in several areas, such as communications, sensing, direction finding, localization, remote sensing, etc. A cognitive sensor refers to the next generation of adaptive sensor that has unprecedented transmit-receive adaptivity and diversity, along with ~intelligent~ high performance embedded computing; in other words, the sensor adapts ~intelligently~ to its environment based on a plurality of potential information sources. A cognitive sensor can thus be viewed as a dynamic closed loop feedback system wherein the control program senses the environment, including the desired target and undesired clutter, as well as spectral occupancy, and continually modifies the transmit waveform characteristics to enhance performance. Cognitive sensors have a history well founded on machine learning.Of recent interest to sensor designers are coherent MIMO apertures which operate over geographically separate locations monitoring a common volume. This presents significant distributed and cloud computational challenges with multi-agent sub-systems in a MIMO architecture. The problem of coherence in widely spatially distributed multi-agent MIMO architectures is a difficult problem not hitherto addressed. Despite performance loss which could result from this structuring, an important practical advantage is the requirement of very low-bandwidth data links between the peripheral detectors and the central combiner or processor.In a coherent or cohered MIMO cloud sensor arrangement, receive sensors measure signals sent by several transmitters and reflected from one or more targets and clutter, in the presence of interference and noise. The receive sensors communicate over non-ideal backhaul links with a fusion center, or cloud processor, where the presence or absence of the targets is determined. The backhaul architecture can be characterized either by an orthogonal-access channel or by a nonorthogonal multiple-access channel. Joint optimization of the sensing and backhaul communication functions of the cloud RF sensor is usually preferred.