Image Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
Definitions
1.1. Introduction
Fusion has become an important aspect of information processing in several very
different fields, in which the information that needs to be fused, the objectives, the
methods, and hence the terminology, can vary greatly, even if there are also many
analogies. The objective of this chapter is to specify the context of fusion in the field
of signal and image processing, to specify the concepts and to draw definitions. This
chapter should be seen as a guide for the entire topic. It should help those with another
vision of the problem to find their way.
1.2. Choosing a definition
In this topic, the word “information” is used in a broad sense. In particular, it
covers both data (for example, measurements, images, signals, etc.) and knowledge
(regarding the data, the subject, the constraints, etc.) that can be either generic or
specific.
The definition of information fusion that we will be using throughout this topic is
given below.
D
EFINITION
1.1 (Fusion of information).
Fusion of information consists of combining
information originating from several sources in order to improve decision making.
