Trends in Advanced EW Processing Architectures

The goal of integrated avionics is to allow the crew, particularly of tactical aircraft, to fly complex missions and locate, identify and prosecute targets without being overwhelmed with sensor data, preoccupied with sensor/countermeasures control, or critically involved with the terminal accuracy of weapons. Clearly, sophisticated on-board computer systems are needed both within and between subsystems such as WO/IR, and fire control. Performance characteristics of processing systems needed to implement integrated avionics are poorly known at the present time. However, with the use of benchmarks, the qualities of processing systems for integrated avionics can be described.