A general approach to the fusion of imprecise information

We consider the problem of fusion of multiple information sources, particularly in environments when the sensor observations are imprecise. The concept of a combinability relationship is introduced to enable the inclusion in the fusion process of information about the appropriateness of fusing different elements from the observation space. This idea allows for the use of an expert knowledge base, containing information about the domain of the particular problem, in the fusion process and leads to a more intelligent aggregation. We show that if we use a combinability relationship that only allows fusion of identical elements then the only idempotent fusion of any collection of fuzzy observations is their intersection. Using the idea of the fuzzy measure we considered situations in which we allow a partial collection of the observations determine the fused value. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.