Research on the Properties of DST Combination Rule and its Parallel Algorithm

The DST combination rule is studied and corresponding rigorous proofs of its properties are given, including two properties, i.e., sequential DST combination rule meets the commutative law and associative law; the sequential DST combination rule and the centralized DST combination rule are equivalent. The two properties show that the fusion result of multiple evidence sources is irrelevant to fusion order, and the results of sequential fusion and centralized fusion are the same. In addition, employing the advantage of parallel computing feature in the sequential DST fusion process, the parallel DST algorithm is given, and the computing time complexity of parallel DST algorithm is reduced further. The results of example are consistent with the conclusions above. The properties of the DST combination rule and the parallel DST algorithm are of benefit to the engineering practice.