An application of the constraint programming to the design and operation of synthetic aperture radars

Abstract

The design and operation of synthetic aperture radars require compatible sets of hundreds of quantities. Compatibility is achieved when these quantities satisfy constraints arising from physics, geometry etc. In the aggregate these quantities and constraints form a logical model of the radar. In practice the logical model is distributed over multiple people, documents and software modules thereby becoming fragmented. Fragmentation gives rise to inconsistencies and errors. The SAR Inference Engine addresses the fragmentation problem by implementing the logical model of a Sandia synthetic aperture radar in a form that is intended to be usable from system design to mission planning to actual operation of the radar. These diverse contexts require extreme flexibility that is achieved by employing the constraint programming paradigm.