Operational integrity monitoring for military vehicle's integrated vetronics architecture

In both the military and civilian domains, vehicles are becoming more reliant on electronics to perform basic functions as well as, to provide new capabilities. The current trend for military vehicles is to feature data networks to connect the vast array of vetronics (vehicle electronics) modules. It is perceived [3] that by networking the vetronics, the resultant integrated architecture provides capabilities greater than the sum of the individual subsystems. In addition, vetronics networks allow for a more distributed and modular architecture and thus improving interoperability and future upgradability. However, this reliance on the integrated vetronics architecture raises issues of confidence in the safety and reliability of the architecture. This paper provides an insight into a method of ensuring the operational integrity of the integrated vetronics architecture by extending on current Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) techniques. (6 pages)