Event Capture and Filtering System for Sensor Data Analysis

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems face challenges in efficiently identifying and filtering events of interest from vast amounts of sensor data, often requiring significant human intervention, leading to resource misallocation and delayed decision-making due to the difficulty in distinguishing between affiliated and unaffiliated events.

Innovation Solution

An event capture and filtering system that analyzes sensor data to identify characteristics of detected events, generates event reports from affiliated sources, and compares these reports to filter out affiliated events, allowing for the allocation of resources to unaffiliated events of interest.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Area of stationary object

If sensors provide continuous monitoring of events within an area of interest, then comprehensive coverage is achieved, but the number of detected events becomes overwhelming making it difficult to discern events of interest

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemonitoring coverage areaVSAvoiddifficulty in discerning events of interest

Core Design Contradiction:

Area of stationary objectVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the monitoring process into multiple stages: event detection by wide-range sensors, event filtering by the filtering system, and detailed analysis by focused sensors. This segmentation allows comprehensive coverage while reducing the complexity of processing all detected events by automatically filtering out unaffiliated events at intermediate stages.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The event filtering system acts as an intermediary between the wide-range sensors and the detailed analysis stage. It receives all detected events, compares them against criteria, and filters out unaffiliated events, thereby reducing the number of events requiring manual analysis while maintaining comprehensive monitoring coverage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If human operators analyze sensor data to determine events of interest, then decision-making capability is maintained, but resource allocation becomes inefficient and response time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehuman decision-making capabilityVSAvoidresource allocation efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The filtering system performs self-service by automatically comparing detected events against stored criteria and filtering out unaffiliated events without human intervention. This automation maintains the ease of human decision-making for complex events while dramatically improving productivity by eliminating manual analysis of routine events.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary filtering action automatically, before human operators need to analyze events. By pre-filtering out unaffiliated events using automated comparison against criteria, the system prepares a reduced event list for human operators, improving both resource allocation efficiency and response time.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Adaptability or versatility

If sensor resources are allocated on an ad hoc basis to detected events, then flexibility is maintained, but the ability to provide adequate discernment to all events is compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveflexibility in resource allocationVSAvoidadequate discernment level

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies local quality by providing different levels of analysis to different events. Automated filtering is applied uniformly to all events, but detailed human analysis is selectively applied only to affiliated events that require it. This maintains flexibility in resource allocation while ensuring adequate discernment for events that need it.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

4Productivity

If the number of sensor systems and detected events increases, then monitoring capability is enhanced, but the difficulty of optimizing sensor resource allocation increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemonitoring capabilityVSAvoiddifficulty of optimizing resource allocation

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The filtering system extracts and removes unaffiliated events from the pool of detected events, separating them from events requiring further analysis. This extraction simplifies the remaining event list and reduces the complexity of resource allocation decisions, even as the total number of detected events increases.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS7406199B2Event capture and filtering system

Publication Date: 2008.07.29 NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORP

AI summary

Systems and methods are provided for filtering detected events to determine events of interest. A sensor data analysis system identifies a plurality of detected events from provided sensor data and evaluates the sensor data to determine at least one characteristic associated with each event. The sensor data analysis system reports the plurality of detected events and their associated characteristics. At least one affiliated event generator is operative to generate at least one affiliated event and produce at least one event report. A given event report provides at least one characteristic associated with an affiliated event. An event filtering system compares the at least one event report to the detected events to identify at least one affiliated event amongst the plurality of detected events.