Multi-source information fusion in an open world - Process vulnerabilities and conflict management

30 Apr 2025
Dempster-Shafer theory, Open world, conflict management, vulnerability, information fusion

Abstract

In the context of close collaboration between different separate information systems, the resources deployed to merge so many sources of information make isolated entities function as a whole. This is the case in the maritime domain, where naval information systems communicate and interact on the basis of uncertain information that is generally incomplete, heterogeneous, imprecise and vulnerable. Dempster-Shafer theory, with its ability to skilfully manage uncertainty in all its forms, is a subtle and effective mathematical framework for achieving this fusion process. What’s more, the more complex a system is, the more conflictual the information it exchanges is likely to be. So what about the possible values of the state of a system as complex as that of a ship? Furthermore, if vulnerable information is subject to corruption, what is its impact and how does it propagate in an information system? In this thesis, we are interested in the collaborative aspect of information conveyed in a complex system, in the way information is merged and in understanding the origin of conflict in information. The theoretical core of our research is based on the definition of a conflict measure whose evolution is non-monotonic and a new rule for merging information that is robust in the event of corruption. We carry out our research in the context of the open world: a paradigm in which the presence of conflict can call into question our a priori knowledge, and the representation of possibilities that it entails.

Citation

Quentin Saint-Christophe. Multi-source information fusion in an open world - Process vulnerabilities and conflict management. Other. École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées Bretagne, 2024. French. ⟨NNT : 2024ENTA0013⟩. ⟨tel-05052160⟩