Covariance Intersection

Decentralized Systems

Systems comprised of a number of computing nodes all supporting a common mission. All nodes can be given the same task or asked to support the mission through a subset of tasks. Decentalized systems offer several advantages over their centralized counterparts including

• Each node does not require intrinsic knowledge of the system topology
• Topology is variable. Nodes can be added or subtracted without significantly impacting the overall system
• Less vulnerable to single-point failures
• Computational load can be spread amongst nodes for efficiency

Decentralized systems also suffer from some disadvantages 1) All nodes may not have access to all information contained within the system

• Multiple nodes have access to the same information