By Roland Piquepaille
The U.S. Army is increasingly using battlefield sensors these days, from static ones which detect ground movements to unmanned aerial drones. This means that field commanders are overwhelmed by too much information. So the military started the BrUte Force Fusion (BUFF) program, which uses server and visualization systems from SGI, according to Military Information Technology. In a lab located at Fort Huachuca, AZ, BUFF analyses 170,000 hourly intelligence reports or about 3 terabytes of data each day. The goal of the BUFF program is to reach the Level II of the data fusion hierarchy -- Level I occurs when a sensor is able to detect the movement of an object in a battle space while Level II blends data from multiple sensors. Many scientists believe that reaching Level II will take two decades, but promoters of the BUFF program think they can do better. Read more...Here is the introduction of the article from Military Information Technology.
The Battle Command Battle Lab at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, is evaluating ways to fuse intelligence data from multiple sources into a cohesive combat picture in order to put more complete and actionable battlefield knowledge in the hands of field commanders. Experts there are using a variety of advanced technologies, including new server and visualization systems from Silicon Graphics Inc (SGI).
The new systems are deployed as part of the military's Brute Force Fusion (BUFF) program, which is evaluating methods for achieving a clear understanding of current battlefield conditions. BUFF is focused on what is known as Level II fusion, which merges data from a growing array of intelligence sensors to create a picture of what is happening on the battlefield now.
With some 170,000 hourly intelligence reports generating three terabytes of data a day, BUFF's research is also focused on assembling the data into actionable intelligence for specific field commanders or troop leaders.
In "Get BUFF," GovExec.com gives some additional details about the program.
Jason Denno, the Battle Lab's deputy director and a self-described "deviant" thinker, is leading the BrUte Force Fusion Program, a daring and potentially fruitless attempt to conquer the data deluge by wrestling it to the ground. (The muscular approach prompted the program's acronym, "BUFF," which was Denno's idea.)
Denno hopes that, with BUFF, the military could produce level II fusion tools within the next few years. "We have a sea of information at this point," Denno says. Buried in it, somewhere, could be the telltale clue that lets analysts know whether they're looking at a few tanks moving across the desert, or the point of a much larger force, backed up by devastating artillery power.
Denno thinks that 'traditional' military analysts have not looked at enough information, probably because of a lack of computing power.
They have looked at the most current set of facts and assessed what was happening at that moment. When they have to make another assessment - probably a few minutes or a few days later -- they look at the freshest data obtained since the last set.
The problem, Denno says, is analysts' views frequently are based only on the most recent data; they might not account for historic trends. BUFF, however, would base each assessment on all the data that has been collected. Of course, that means the data set grows exponentially with each new assessment. The mound of data becomes a mountain and then a mountain range.
And here is Denno's conclusion.
"Sometimes, you just need a sledgehammer," Denno says of his all-or-nothing concept. "We were the first ones to use a sledgehammer instead of a pickle fork."
For slightly different information, you also can read this SGI press release from February 15, 2005.
[Disclaimer: I worked for SGI between 1996 and 2001, but I don't have any more ties with this company.]
Sources: Harrison Donnelly, Military Information Technology, April 24, 2005; Shane Harris, GovExec.com, April 15, 2005; and various websites
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