Observability analysis of piece-wise constant systems. I. Theory

For pt.II see ibid., vol.28, no.4, p.1068-75, Oct. 1992. A method for analyzing the observability of time-varying linear systems which can be modeled as piece-wise constant systems (PWCS) is presented. An observability matrix for such systems is developed for continuous and discrete time representations. A stripped observability matrix (SOM) is introduced which simplifies the analysis in cases where the use of this matrix is legitimate. The observability analysis is presented as a step-by-step procedure     

Observability analysis of piece-wise constant systems. II.Application to inertial navigation in-flight alignment [militaryapplications]

For pt.I see ibid., vol.28, no.4, p.1056-67, Oct. 1992. The method of analyzing the observability of time-varying linear systems as piecewise constant systems (PWCS) is applied to the analysis of in-flight alignment (IFA) of inertial navigation systems (INS) whose estimability is known to be enhanced by maneuvers. The validity of this approach to the analysis of IFA is proven. The analysis lays the theoretical background to, and clearly demonstrates the observability enhancement of, IFA. The analytic conclusions are confirmed by covariance simulations. Although INS IFA was handled to various degrees in the past, a comprehensive control theoretic approach to the problem is introduced. The analysis yields practical conclusions and a procedure previously unknown