Proceedings of Spie: Challenges of Developing Algorithms For Multiple Sensor, Multiple Target Tracking

PROCEEDINGS OF SPIE
SPIEDigitalLibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie
Challenges Of Developing Algorithms

For Multiple Sensor, Multiple Target
Tracking
Oliver Drummond, Samuel Blackman
Oliver E. Drummond, Samuel S. Blackman, "Challenges Of Developing

Algorithms For Multiple Sensor, Multiple Target Tracking," Proc. SPIE 1096,
Signal and Data Processing of Small Targets 1989, (5 September 1989); doi:
10.1117/12.960358
Event: SPIE 1989 Technical Symposium on Aerospace Sensing, 1989,

Orlando, FL, United States
Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023 Terms of Use: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/terms-of-use

Challenges
Challenges of developing
developingalgorithms
algorithmsfor
formultiple
multiplesensor,
sensor,multiple
multipletarget
targettracking
tracking
Oliver. E. Drummond and

and Samuel
Samuel S. Blackman
Hughes Aircraft Company
2141 E. Rosecrans Boulevard., El
Rosecrans Boulevard., El Segundo,
Segundo, California
California 90245
90245
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the unique multiple target tracking problems associated with with aa dense
dense threat
threat environment or low
observables. Critical
observables. Critical algorithm
algorithm development issues
issues are identified
identified and the areas
areas in
in which
which existing techniques must
existing techniques must be
extended
extended are
are discussed. An overview
discussed. An overview of proposed architectures that have have been
been identified
identified to address these problems is
presented. The
Theconcept
conceptof
ofbirth
birth-to-death
-to -death tracking
tracking isispresented
presented and
and candidate
candidate techniques
techniques for
for tracking
tracking and
and data
data association
for use within
within this
thisconcept
concept are
are discussed.
discussed. The paper also also outlines threat characteristics and the resultant
resultant implications
implications on
the choice of data
data association methods are presented.
A major issue
issue addressed
addressed in this paperpaper isis the
the manner
manner in
inwhich
whichthethetracking
trackingfunctions
functionsare
aretotobebepartitioned.
partitioned. To
To perform
perform
accurate data association, it is preferable that data from the entire scene be processed simultaneously.
simultaneously. However, due to
physical limitations,
physical limitations, itit isisnecessary
necessarythat
that the
the processing
processingbebewidely
widelydistributed.
distributed. One
One approach
approach presented
presented provides
provides central
central--
level tracking
level tracking accuracy
accuracywhile whilealso
alsodistributing
distributingthe theprocessing
processingacross
acrossmultiple
multipleplatforms.
platforms.The The paper
paper closes with an
closes with an
assessment
assessment of existing
existingmultiple
multiple target
target tracking technology
technology as
as applied
applied to space-based
space -based surveillance
surveillance programs
programs and proposes
an approach for future development.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.
A multiple target
target tracking
tracking(MTT)
(MTT)system
systemdesigned
designedfor
foruse
usebybyaa space
space-based programsuch
-based surveillance program suchasas the
the Strategic
Strategic
Defense
Defense Initiative
Initiative (SDI)
(SDI) will
willbe
berequired
required to
to handle a total number of targets and a target density density far beyond that of any any
previous
previous MTT system. One estimate
system. One estimatedefines
definesthe
thethreat
threattotoinitially
initiallyconsist
consist of
of3000
3000 missile boosters that
that ultimately
ultimately deploy
30,000
30,000warheads
warheads and
and 250,000
250,000decoys.1
decoys.' In addition, the
the tracking
tracking system
system will have
have to
to contend
contend with other objects, such
other objects, such as
as stars,
stars,
resident space objects, andand debris,
debris, as
as well
well as clutter for lookdown conditions. Finally, further complications
conditions. Finally, complications arise
arise during
during
certain segments of the encounter
encounterwhenwhenthe
thesystem
system will
will have to track very closely
closely spaced
spaced clusters of targets that may only only
be partially resolved by thethe viewing
viewingsensors.
sensors. The
The term "cluster" willwill be
be used
used toto refer
refer to a collection of objects with similar
similar
state vectors.
The tracking system

system will
will probably
probably use
use multiple
multiple sensors
sensors onon board
board multiple
multiple distributed
distributed platforms. Although
Although passive
passive
electro-optical
electro- optical(EO)
(EO) sensors
sensors could
could be
be the
the main
main source
source of
of information,
information,there
there could
could also
alsobe
be active
activeradar
radar and laser
laser sensor
data to process.
To date, typical MTT system design has been for environments with a relatively small
small number
number of targets
targets and low target
densities.2*3
densities 2 3 Also,
Also, MTT
MTT algorithms have typically
typicallybeen
been developed
developed toto accommodate
accommodate processing data from
processing of data from a single sensor.
With the introduction of multiple sensor configurations, there
there are
are aa variety of processing
processing chains that are possible and
and many
different kinds of MTT algorithms
different algorithms are
arebeing
beingconsidered.4,5,6
considered.4*5'6 Thus,
Thus, SDI
SDI presents an unprecedented challenge
challenge for the
development and evaluation ofof multiple sensor, multiple target
target tracking
tracking algorithms.
algorithms.
The tracking of low observables

observables presents
presents a similar challenge.
challenge. Low observables
observables are
are targets
targets with a low signal amplitude
relative
relative to
to the
the variance
variance of the
the clutter plus noise as recorded by the sensor. The Thecombination
combination ofoflow
low target intensity
intensity and
heavy
heavybackground
background conditions
conditions characteristic
characteristic of
of below
below the
the horizon
horizon sensors
sensors leads
leads to
to low
low observables.
observables. An example
example of low
observable processing is the tracking
tracking of
of aircraft
aircraft or
or cruise
cruise missiles
missiles using a space-based
space -based sensor surveillance system. Without
special
special processing
processing methods,
methods, the
the clutter can cause more observations than can be processed or too too many
many missed targets.
The paper begins with an overview
overviewof ofcritical
criticalissues
issuesand
andpotential
potentialapproaches
approachestotothese
theseissues.
issues. Then,
Then, a more detailed
discussion of
of the
the importance
importance of accurate
accurate data association and how data association
association requirements
requirements must be reflected
reflected in
in the
choice of distributed
distributed processing methods
methods isis given.
given. This paper expands on the number of critical issues and the applications
addressed by
by anan earlier
earlierpaper.7
paper?
244 / /SPIE
SPIEVol.
Vol. 1096
1096Signal
Signaland
andData
DataProcessing
Processingof
ofSmall
SmallTargets
Targets 1989
1989
Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

Terms of Use: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/terms-of-use
CRITICAL ALGORITHM
2. SOME CRITICAL
2. ISSUES
ALGORITHM ISSUES
There critical open

There is a variety of critical issues for
open issues multiple target
for multiple tracking with
target tracking multiple sensors
withmultiple in aadense
sensors in target environment
dense target environment
or with low observables6,8,9
observablesA8*9 SomeSomeofofthe obviousones
more obvious
themore onesare outlined below
are outlined several of these
and more details on several
below and
problems are presented later in the paper.
2.1 Multiple sensor data

2.1 association.
data association.
Data association
association isis the key
key issue
issue for any system. This
any MTT system. is particularly
This is for SDI
true for
particularly true because of
SDI because necessity to
thenecessity
ofthe to
establish pure
establish pure target tracks to achieve target classification
classification (or
(or discrimination)
discrimination) and
and to
to maintain
maintain good
good tracks
tracks thereafter
thereafter for
for
weapon guidance.
weapon guidance. Similarly,
Similarly, data association isis critical
data association trackinglow
to tracking
critical to low observables because misassociations,
observables because well as
as well
misassociations, as
excessive false
excessive and missing
false and tracks, can
missing tracks, be caused
can be clutter or false
caused by clutter signals. Also,
false signals. due to the angle-only
Also, due measurement nature
angle -onlymeasurement nature
EO sensors, there will be
of EO be considerable involvedininthe
considerable difficulty involved thereinitiation oftracks
reinitiationof thatbecome
tracksthat lost due
degraded and lost
become degraded due
to premature deletion.
leads to
multiple targets (including stationary ones or clutter) leads
signals or multiple
The existence of either false signals misassociations.
to misassociations.
misassociation isisthe
A misassociation the incorrect assignment (or
incorrect assignment weighting)of
(or weighting) anobservation
ofan track(state
observationtotoaatrack estimate) for
(stateestimate) filtering. The
for filtering. The
Misassociations do
incorrect observation can be a false signal or from another target. Misassociations do not occur for
not occur single target
for single tracking
target tracking
without false signals.
signals. The numberof
The number misassociations increases
ofmisassociations as the
increases as density of
the density targets and
of targets false signals
andfalse increases.
signals increases.
The major consequences

consequences of of misassociations are (1) (increased state estimation errors) with
reduced tracking accuracy (increased
(1) reduced
resultant premature track
track deletion,
deletion, (2) increased acquisition
(2) increased tracks, and
acquisition time, (3) increased numbers of false and missed tracks, and
(4) degradation in the
(4) the value
value of discrimination, situation assessment,
of discrimination, information. In
and battle management information.
assessment, and addition,
In addition,
typicallythe
typically the state
state estimation
estimation error variance /covariancematrix
variance/covariance willbecome
matrixwill inaccurateand
becomeinaccurate indicate that
and indicate tracking
that the tracking
accuracy
accuracy isis better
better than it really
really is.
is. This
This can problems in battle management
to problems
can lead to manager needs
because the battle manager
management because needs
information on which
realistic information tracks are
which tracks are not.
which are
are accurate and which Misassociations and densely populated targets (or
not. Misassociations
clutter) can lead to an inability to detect and estimate abrupt maneuvers.
to detect depends on
misassociations depends
maneuvers. The number of misassociations on the
the
threat characteristics,
characteristics, sensor design/configuration, and
sensor design/configuration, specific algorithm design employed.
the specific
and the
Despite the necessity
necessity to improve data association
improve data thus decrease
and thus
association and any practical
misassociation, any
decreasemisassociation, must not
system must
practical system
require excessive resources. The
excessive resources. Theusual necessity to
usualnecessity limit the
to limit requiredcomputational
the required resourcesisisalso
computationalresources relevant toto
mostrelevant
alsomost
aerospace -based surveillance
aerospace-based because the
surveillancebecause machineryshould
computing machinery
the computing becarried
shouldbe onboard
carried on Thus, as
the sensor platform. Thus,
board the
discussed in
discussed in more
more detail
detail later, the
the tradeoff
tradeoff between data association
between data performance and the
association performance computational
requiredcomputational
the required
-board processing.
on-board
resources is particularly crucial for on
2.2 Distribution of
2.2 Distribution processing over multiple platforms.
of processing
Related to data
data association
association performance and computational
performance and manner in
requirements, is the manner
computational resource requirements, which the
in which
There are
distributed over multiple platforms. There
processing is distributed associated with partitioning
are obvious computational advantages associated
multiple platforms. However,
across multiple
the tracking problem across maybe
theremay
However, there between the
conflict between
beaaconflict achieve
requirementstotoachieve
therequirements
data association
accurate data
accurate andthe
association and desireto
thedesire distributethe
to distribute anddata
trackingand
thetracking associationprocessing
dataassociation by partitioning
processingby the global
partitioning the
problems. Potential approaches to partitioning are discussed in more detail later in
MTT problem into local tracking problems. in the
the
paper.
Track initiation.
2.3 Track
process in
intensive process
Track initiation is potentially the most resource intensive systemson
MTT systems
in MTT pertrack
onaaper basis. The problem
track basis.
of track initiation with passive sensors in a dense environmentisisdifficult
targetenvironment
dense target two-dimensional
thetwo
becauseofofthe
difficult because -dimensional (2(2-D)
-D)
nature of the measurement
nature of data.One
measurement data. approachisistotoform
Oneapproach angle-only,
formangle -only, sensor -level tracks
sensor-level sensor and then to combine
each sensor
tracks at each
sensor-level tracksto
sensor -leveltracks formthree-dimensional
toform (3 -D)tracks
three -dimensional(3-D) throughthe
tracksthrough processof
theprocess oftriangulation. However, aa major
triangulation. However, problem
major problem
occurrence of
that can result from triangulation is the occurrence of false intersections or ghosts.
ghosts.
One approach
approach to reducingthe
to reducing ghostingproblem
theghosting with triangulation
problemwith to compare
triangulationisis to successive points
compare successive or to
points or use angle rate
to use
the two sensor
information from the -level, angle-only
sensor-level, thatare
tracksthat
angle -onlytracks for combination
considered for
areconsidered track. Alternative
3 -Dtrack.
combination into a 3-D
information from
methods require the simultaneous use of angle information
methods three or more sensors.
from three sensors. Four types of
generictypes
Fourgeneric multiple
of multiple
SPIE Vol. 1096

SPIE Vol. Signal and
1096 Signal ProcessingofofSmall
DataProcessing
andData 1989/ / 245
Targets1989
SmallTargets 245

sensor processing chains for track initiation have been identified.6
track initiation identified .6 These
These correspond
correspond to the four types of track maintenance
approaches discussed
approaches discussed in
in Section
Section 4. Thereare
4. There areunique
uniqueadvantages
advantages and
and disadvantages
disadvantages to to each
each type
type of
oftrack
trackinitiation
initiation
Furtherdevelopment
approach. Further developmentandandcomparisons
comparisonsare
areneeded
neededbecause
becausethis
thisfunction
functionisisaapotential
potentialprocessing
processingbottleneck.
bottleneck.
2.4 Birth
Birth-to-death
-to -death tracking.
A key concept
concept in SDI
SDI isisthe
the maintenance
maintenance of a continuous
continuous track on thethe initial
initial boost
boost phase
phase missile, the
the bus
bus that
that is
is released
released
from the boost phase missile,
missile, and
and the
the subsequent
subsequent reentry vehicles
vehicles(RVs)
(RVs)and and decoys
decoysthatthatare
are deployed
deployed from
from the
the bus.
bus. This
birth-to-death
concept, called birth -to -deathtracking,
tracking,isisdescribed
describedininFigure
Figure1.1. First,
First, the
thebooster
booster isis tracked. Then the
tracked. Then the track
trackhistory
historyandand
an accurate estimate of bus kinematics are required. This Thisinformation
information isis used
used for
for tracking
tracking the
the RVs
RVs and
anddecoys
decoys that
that are
are
deployed. The
TheRVs
RVsandanddecoys
decoyscouldcouldfirst
firstappear
appearasasan
anextended
extendedobject,
object,then
thenasasaapartially
partiallyresolved
resolvedcluster,
cluster,and
andfinally
finally as
as
individual objects. Once
Once discrimination
discriminationbetween
betweenan an RV
R V and
and the
the associated
associated decoys
decoys is performed,
performed, it is particularly important
important
that a good track on the RV be maintained thereafter.
thereafter.
Another important feature
feature of
ofbirth
birth-to-death
-to -death processing
processing isis that
that itit offers
offers the
the advantage
advantage of substantially
substantially reducing
reducing the
amount of track initiation
initiation processing
processing required
required in a dense environment.
environment. Tracks are initiated early when the threat density
is low.
low. Then, continuity is maintained as additional
additional objects
objects are
are spawned.
spawned. InInthis thisway,
way, the
the amount
amountof
ofcostly
costly track
trackinitiation
initiation
is substantially
substantiallyreduced
reduced during the midcourse phase.
Track spawning
spawning isis not
not to
to be
be confused with
with track
track splitting.
splitting. Track splitting refers to creating additional candidate or
hypothesis
hypothesis tracks
tracks for
for aa single
single target. Track spawning
target. Track spawning refers to creating more than one tracktrack from
from aa previous single track
because additional targets have been deployed or resolved in that location. Track spawning
location. Track spawning is expected to require fewer
resources than so
so-called
-called "cold
"cold start"
start" track initiation.
Although appealing, thethe concept

concept ofof birth
birth-to-death
-to -deathtracking
trackingposes
posesaasignificant
significanthand-off
hand -offproblem.
problem.One
OneSDISDIarchitecture
architecture
uses
uses three tracking
tracking phases
phases (boost,
(boost, midcourse,
midcourse,and and terminal).
terminal). Thus,
Thus, tracks
tracks generated
generated during
during the
the earlier phases
phases mustmust be
be
passed to the tracking systems
systems for
for the
the later
later phases. Ideally, these tracks should
phases. Ideally, should be
be passed before reinitiation is is required
at the later stages. This
This requires
requiresthat
thataccurate
accurate33-D-D tracks be sent just before the time that observation data data is
is first received
by the later tracking stage. However,
However,totoallow
allowfor
fordelays
delaysininthe
thetrack
trackhand
hand-off process, aatrack
-off process, track-to-track association process
-to -track association process
may be
may be required
required to match tracks generated at different stages.
2.5
2.5 Tracking of partially resolved clusters or extended
extended objects.
objects.
During the midcourse

midcourse surveillance
surveillancestage
stageof
ofSDI
SDI aa cluster
cluster of
of targets,
targets, consisting
consisting of
of possibly one RVRV and
and 40 decoys, could
be deployed from the postboost vehicle (or bus). The Themembers
membersof ofthe
thecluster
clustercould
couldinitially
initially have small random velocities
velocities
with respect
respect to the center of mass of the
the cluster. Later, as
cluster. Later, as the
the members
members of of the cluster
cluster separate,
separate,they
theywill
will experience
experience different
different
gravitational forces
forces due
due to
to their
their different positions within
withinthe theearth's
earth's gravitational
gravitationalforce
forcefield.
field. This
This phenomenon,
phenomenon, denoted
the gravity
gravity gradient
gradient effect,
effect,will
willtend
tendto
tofurther
further increase
increasethethe relative
relativevelocities
velocitiesand
andtotospread
spreadthe
thecluster
cluster apart
apart further
further along
along
the direction of the gravitational force.lo
force.10
Despite the fact that aa target
targetcluster
clusterwill
will eventually
eventually spread apart, there
there could
could be
be aasignificant
significant time
time period
periodfor
forwhich,
which,
due to sensor measurement resolution
resolution limits,
limits, closely spaced
spaced targets may
may appear
appear to the sensor as a single extended object.
This is
is illustrated byby Figure
Figure 2,2, which
which shows
showsthethenumber
number ofofresolvable
resolvableelements
elementsthat
thatare
are seen
seen by
by aa sensor
sensor as
as a function
function of
of
for aa cluster
time for clusterofof40
40targets
targets.8*10
.8,10
In general, it is both inaccurate and

and wasteful
wasteful of
of computer resources to to attempt
attempt to toform
formindividual
individualtracks
trackson
onclosely
closely
spaced targets that
that have
have essentially
essentially the
the same
same velocity.2
velocity.2 This
This is particularly true if,
if, as
as for
for this
this application,
application,the
theindividual
individual
targets may not
not be
be resolvable. the purposes
resolvable. Thus, for the purposes ofof track
track stability
stability and efficient resource
resource allocation, group tracking is
desirable during this stage of the tracking process.
Reference 10 10 summarizes the development

development and and preliminary
preliminary evaluation
evaluation of
of aa radically
radically new
new group
grouptracking
trackingalgorithm
algorithm
designed for use inin tracking
tracking target clusters or extended objects by distributed sensors. Preliminary
Preliminary results
results are favorable,
but much
much further
further development
development isisrequired
required to
to refine
refine the
themethod.
method. In particular,
particular, the
the details
details for
for the
the transition
transition from
fromgroup to
individual
individual target
target tracking and the
the logic
logic associated
associated with
with crossing and merging groups have yet to be be developed.
developed.
246 / /SPIE
SPIEVol.
Vol. 1096
1096Signal
Signaland
andData
Data Processing
Processing of
of Small Targets
Targets 1989

2.6
2.6 Algorithm evaluation.
Evaluation
Evaluation of algorithms is complex
complex because
because of the diversity
diversity of aspects involved. Typically, the major tradeoff is
involved. Typically,
tracking performance
tracking performance versus
versus the
the amount
amount of processor
processor resources
resources required. The characteristics
required. The characteristics of
of performance
performance versus
versus
for an
required resources for an algorithm
algorithm usually
usually depend onon the
the threat,
threat, the
theoperating
operatingconditions,
conditions,and
andthethealgorithm
algorithmdesign
design
Algorithmsshould
parameters. Algorithms should be
becharacterized
characterizedtotoestablish
establishthese
theserelationships
relationships so
so that
thatcomparisons
comparisonsamong
among algorithms
algorithms
can be made and algorithms selected for a processing chain. For example,
chain. For example, Figure 3 illustrates these characteristics
characteristics for a
family
family of
ofalgorithms
algorithms for
for tracking
tracking an isolated target
target with
with false
false signals.
It is not enough to evaluate performance; an expression for the required resources resources for
for an
an algorithm
algorithm is
is also
also needed,
although this
this isisoften
oftenomitted
omittedfrom
fromreports
reports and
andpapers.
papers. Useful measures of required
required resources
resources are throughput and memory
memory
as a function
function ofoftarget
target density
density and
and the
the rate
rate at which
whichtargets
targets must
mustbe
beprocessed.
processed. However, the ultimate measure
measure ofof processing
resources for on on-board
-board processors
processors isis size, weight,
weight, and power.
A major factor that

that may
may limit progress on the development of MTT algorithms is the requirement for detailed
requirement for detailed Monte
Monte
Carlo simulation,
Carlo simulation, which
which is costly. Classical
Classical covariance
covariance analysis
analysis and other
other simplified
simplified analytical
analytical methods
methodswill
will not
not be
be adequate
adequate
to even begin to perform MIT
MTTalgorithm
algorithmevaluation
evaluationand
andcan
canbe
bevery
verymisleading.6,9
misleading.6*9 This is because of
of the complex manner
in which
which target
target tracks will
will interact
interact and the additional error
error source
source associated
associated with
with misassociation.
criteria for
The criteria for evaluating
evaluating multiple
multiple target estimation
estimation performance
performance have have notnot been well
well established.
established. There
There are
are
straightforward criteria for evaluating single single target
target tracking
tracking estimation
estimation errors. However, for multiple targets, evaluating
errors. However, evaluating
tracking accuracy is complex and and the state of the art
art isis not
not well
well established. InInsimulating
simulating and
andevaluating
evaluating multiple
multiple target
target
algorithms, in many cases
cases itit isisnot
not clear
clear how
howtotodetermine
determine which
which state
state estimate
estimate is
is to
to be
be paired
paired with which
which actual
actual target
target state.
The so
so-called
-called assignment
assignment or basis-free
basis -free technique11
technique11isisapplicable
applicable to
to the
the simpler
simpler case where all the targets
targets are
aresimilar,
similar,
but this technique must be extended for SDI where the the distinction
distinction between
betweenreentry
reentry vehicles
vehiclesand
anddecoys
decoysisisimportant.
important. TheThe
assignment approach uniquely pairs the actual target
approach uniquely target states to the estimated states so that the sum of the
the squared
squared estimation
estimation
errors for all the targets is minimized.
minimized. This
This approach
approach may
may tend to underestimate the magnitude
magnitude of the errors. An AnSDI
SDI
tracking panel
tracking panel has
has recently
recently adopted
adopted aavariation
variationofofthis
thisassignment
assignmentapproach
approachfor forevaluating
evaluatingtracking
trackingestimation
estimation
performance 12
performance.12
An alternative to this approach
approach isis to
to pair
pair an
an actual
actual target
target state
statetotoan
anestimated
estimatedstate
statebased
basedonontrack
trackpurity,
purity,namely,
namely,
based on the source of the measurements used in the track. However,However, thisthis approach
approachmay
may be biased
biased toward
toward some
some tracking
algorithms relative to others.
The evaluation
evaluation of tracking
performance isis not not limited
limitedtotothe
theevaluation
evaluationofofstate
stateestimation
estimationand
andprediction
predictionerrors.
errors.AA
variety of
ofmeasures
measures ofofperformance
performance are typically
typicallyneeded
needed to
to characterize
characterize performance for an application,
performance for application, such
such as
as the number
of false
false and missed tracks, probability of misassociation,
misassociation, and accuracy
accuracy of the state covariance
covariance matrix.
matrix. Further
Furtherwork
workisis
needed to establish
establish not only
only meaningful
meaningful evaluation
evaluation criteria
criteria but
but also
also to predict performance.
performance. Furthermore,
Furthermore,algorithm
algorithm
performance should be characterized
characterized so
so that
that itit can
can be
be predicted
predicted asas aa function
function of
of the target
target density,
density, probability of missed
missed
and false signals,
signals, number
number ofof new
newtargets,
targets, and
and other
other error sources.
2.7
2.7 Multiple frame signal processing.
The tracking task

task could
could be simplified
simplified with improved signal levellevelprocessing.
processing. This might be
be accomplished with multiple
frame (scan) signal processing. In
In this approach,
approach, multiple
multiple frames
frames of
of data are combined
combined before
before applying
applying the signal amplitude
threshold to decide whether
whether there
there isis aa target
target signal
signal in a detector or
or resolution
resolution element.
element. The
Theso-
so-called track before
called track before detect
detect
technique is an example of this
this approach.
approach.
The complexity
complexity of of multiple
multiple frame
frame signal
signalprocessing
processingisisgreater
greaterthan
thanfor
forthe
the traditional
traditional single
single frame
frame approach.
approach. With
multiple frame processing, the target motion must be be considered. In
In a multiple frame matched approachfor
matched filter approach for example,
example,
a bank of filters is
is needed account for
needed to account for the
the full
full range
range of
of target
target velocities.
velocities.
Several
Several different
different types
types of multiple
multiple frame signal
signal processing
processing approaches are under
under investigation13
investigation13 and further com-
com-
parisons
parisons and tradeoffs are needed. While
Whilemultiple
multiple frame
frame signal
signal processing methods require additional resources, theythey
might
might substantially
substantially improve
improve performance
performance by
by reducing
reducing the
the probabilities
probabilities of missed
missed and
and false
false signals.
signals. This could be vital
vital to
to
SPIE
SPIE Vol.
Vol. 1096
1096 Signal
Signal and
andData
DataProcessing
ProcessingofofSmall
SmallTargets
Targets1989
1989/ / 247
247

processing low
low observables.
observables. An additional
additional benefit
benefit for
for some
some approaches
approaches isis that
that the
the signal
signal level processing provides target
velocity information
velocity informationto
to the
the track
track processor. This data
processor. This dataisisespecially
especially useful
useful in improving
improving track initiation as well
well as
as track
track
maintenance processing.
2.8 Additional issues.

2.8 Additional
Concurrent
Concurrent oror parallel
parallel processing
processing isis an
an increasingly
increasinglyimportant
importantaspect
aspectofofMTT.
MIT. As As the number and density of the the
potential targets that must be
be processed
processed increases,
increases, the
the processing
processing load
load increases
increases substantially
substantially and
and not
not in
in aasimple
simple linear
linear
fashion. High
fashion. High performance
performance tracking
tracking of
oflow
low observables
observables is also very demanding in
very demanding in terms
terms of the processing resources
resources
required.
Various types of concurrent

concurrent or parallel processors are being developed to handle high throughput applications or to
reduce processor size,
size, weight,
weight, and
and power. In many
power. In many cases,
cases, algorithms
algorithms must
mustbeberevised
revisedororreplaced
replaced to
to take advantage
advantage ofof
these processors. This
Thisisis especially
especially important
importantfor
foron
on-board processing applications
-board processing applications in
in which
which processor
processor size,
size, weight,
weight, and
and
power are critical.
The relationship between tracking

tracking algorithms
algorithms and processors
processors also
also involves
involves the trade between programmable
programmable versus
versus
hardwired
hardwired processors. This trade
processors. This tradeleads
leadstotoaadilemma
dilemmathat
thatisisnot
noteasily
easilyresolved
resolved yet
yet can
can have
have aa substantial
substantial impact
impact on
on aa
system.
system. IfIf the
the phenomenology
phenomenology isis well
well known
known andand the algorithms
algorithms have
have been tested extensively
extensively under various extreme
extreme
operating conditions, then subsequent
operating conditions, subsequent major
major algorithm
algorithm changes
changes are
are not
notlikely.
likely. In that case,
case, the
the hardwired
hardwiredon -board
on-board
processing
processing should
should be
be safe. However, in
safe. However, in many
many applications,
applications, it may
may not
not be clear to what
what extent
extent hardwired processing
processing is
practical.
"robust" can
The term "robust" can be
be applied
appliedtototracking
trackingalgorithms
algorithms that
that perform
performwellwell or
or with
with graceful degradation
degradation ifif subjected
subjected
to threat or operating
operating conditions
conditions that
that vary
vary substantially
substantially from the design
design conditions.
conditions. This is another issue that cannot yet
be addressed in an established quantitative
quantitative fashion.
fashion. AAmajor
major concern
concernisis to
to what extent should an algorithm design depend
on a priori information?
information? The degree
degree of of dependence
dependence on a priori information such as typical
typical booster
booster thrust patterns and
and
booster launch sites must be considered
consideredin inalgorithm
algorithm design
design and
andthe
therisks
risks carefully
carefully weighed.
DATA ASSOCIATION
3. DATA
In this section we discuss in more detail

detail some
some of
of the
the data
dataassociation
associationissues
issues with
with emphasis
emphasison
onthe
theobservation -to -track
observation-to-track
misassociation problem.
3.1 Choice
3.1 Choice of data association algorithm.
algorithm.
It has long
longbeen
been recognized
recognized that
that misassociation can lead
lead to
to tracking
tracking errors
errors that
that far
far exceed
exceed those
those caused by measurement
measurement
noise and target dynamics.14
noise dynamics.14 To To illustrate
illustrate this
this problem,
problem, Figure
Figure 44 shows
showsthethe ratio
ratio of
of the
the root mean square of position
estimation errors with and without the presence of
estimation of false
false signals
signals in
in the
the track gate of a single established track.6 The top
curve in Figure
Figure 44 shows
showsthe
the error
error ratio for the case where the nearest-
nearest-neighbor
neighbor data
data association method is used. Clearly,
Clearly,
potential problems
there are potential problemsin in aa dense
dense environment
environment that
thatmay
may arise with this simple,
simple, standard
standard approach
approach to
to data
dataassociation.
association.
The nearest-
nearest-neighbor
neighborapproach
approach to to data association determines aa unique
association determines unique pairing
pairing so that atat most
most one
one observation
observation is
is
paired with a given
paired given track. Then, observation
track. Then, observation-to-track
-to -track pairings
pairings are
are irrevocably
irrevocablymade.
made. The method
method is based
based upon likelihood
theory, with
theory, with the
the goal
goal being
being the
the minimization
minimization of ofaa distance
distance function
functionfromfromthe
theobservation
observationtoto the
the predicted
predicted position of the
target. An
An alternative
alternative approach,
approach,multiple
multiplehypothesis
hypothesistracking
tracking(MHT),
(MHT),postpones
postponesdifficult
difficultdata
dataassociation
associationdecisions
decisionsuntil
until
more information, in the form of subsequent observations, is is received.
received. An extreme example of this approach is the gated
optimal method whose performance
performance isis shown
shown by the lower curve in Figure Figure 4.
4. Using the gated
gated optimal
optimalmethod
methodall
allfeasible
feasible
satisfaction of
(as determined by the satisfaction of aa gating
gating relationship)
relationship) observation
observation-to-track
-to -trackpairings
pairings (or
(or branches)
branches) are propagated.
propagated.
Then, an estimate of the true target
target position
position is is formed from a probabilistically weighted
weighted sum of the the branches.
Under the condition that
that all
all feasible branches are formed
formed and
and maintained, the results
results shown
shown in Figure 4 for the gated
optimal method
method represent
represent a lower bound for the tracking error
error in the
the presence of potential misassociation.
misassociation. In practice, a
feasible
feasible implementation
implementation ofof the
the MHT
MHT approach willwill continually
continually form
form multiple
multiple data
data association
association hypotheses
hypotheses but
but maintain
maintain
only
only aa subset
subset of
ofthe
the more
more likely
likelyhypotheses.
hypotheses. The discussions
discussions of MHT
MHT given
givenin
inReferences
References 22 and
and 15
15 address
address these issues
issues in
in
more detail.
248 //SPIE
SPIEVol.
Vol. 1096
1096Signal
Signaland
andData
Data Processing
Processing of Small Targets 1989
Targets 1989

Figure 3 illustrates how performance varies with with the
the number
number of data association hypotheses
hypotheses maintained.
maintained. We again
consider the simplest case of a single
single target in an environment
environment ofof false
false returns.
returns. Results
Results are
are shown
shown as
as aa function
function of the
of hypotheses (or
number of (or for
for this
this special
special case
case the
thenumber
numberofoftracks)
tracks)maintained,
maintained,i.e.,
i.e.,for
foraafamily
familyof
ofalgorithms.
algorithms.
by Figure 3,
As illustrated by 3, for
for on
on-board dense environment,
-board tracking in a dense environment, the
the major
major algorithm
algorithm tradeoff
tradeoffisis between
between
tracking
performance and required
required resources
resources.8 characteristics for an
.8 These characteristics an algorithm
algorithm must
must bebe established
established before
before the
the
algorithm
algorithm chain
chain can
can be
be finalized
finalized and
and the
the specific
specific algorithms
algorithmsselected.
selected. Performance
Performance data
data isis needed not only to select
only to select
algorithms but also to predict the
the resources
resources required
required(processor
(processorsize,
size,weight,
weight,and
andpower)
power)totoestablish
establishthe
thefeasibility
feasibilityof
ofsuch
such
programs as
as SDI
SDI or the Air
Air Defense Initiative
Initiative (ADI).
(ADI).
3.2
3.2 Multiple target data association performance.
Several studies
studies have
have recently
recently been
been performed
performed to quantify data data association
association performance
performance as a function
function of the
the environment
environment
when multiple targets are considered.
considered. These
Thesestudies
studiesexamined
examinedthe theprobability
probabilityofofmisassociation
misassociationfor
forexisting
existingtarget
targettracks.
tracks.
A Monte Carlo simulation
simulation was conducted for for the
the global
global optimal
optimal assignment
assignment of observations to existing tracks. All
existing tracks. All the
observations in the field of view
view of
of the
the sensor
sensor for for a single
single frame
frame ofof data
data were
were available
available to
to the
the assignment
assignment process.
process. In
In the
the
first study
study the results were obtained as as aa function
function of of target
target density,
density, as
as measured
measured byby the
the average
average number
numberof ofobservations
observations
(hits) in the track gates,
(hits) gates, and
and the
thepercentage
percentageofofobservations
observations obtained
obtained from
from targets
targets without
without existing
existing tracks. The
Thelatter
latter
criterion, number ofof observations
observations without tracks,tracks, is of interest because
because itit quantifies
quantifies the
the necessity
necessity to
to maintain
maintain tracks
tracks on
on all
all
example, known
targets (even, for example, known decoys)
decoys) in in the
the sensor
sensorfield
field of
ofview.
view.
Results given in Figure 5 show the manner in which the probability of misassociation dramatically increases with the
number of hits in the gate and with the percentage of observations without without tracks.
tracks. The desirability
desirability of having
having aa complete
complete
global approach, with all
approach, with all observations
observationsand
andtracks,
tracks,for
fordata
dataassociation
associationwaswasalso
alsoshown
shownby byaasecond
secondstudy
studyininwhich
which the
the sensor
sensor
field of view
viewwas
wasrestricted.6
restricted.6Then,
Then,observations
observations were
were only
onlyreceived
received for
for aasubset
subsetof
ofthe
thetracks
tracksthat
that were
were previously
previously established
established
on a group of closely
closely spaced
spaced targets. Thus, in
targets. Thus, in this case, there were tracks without observations. The Theresult
resultwas
wasan
anincrease
increase
of about 50 percent in thethe fraction
fractionof
ofobservations
observations that
thatwere
weremisassociated,
misassociated, whenwhen compared
comparedwithwiththe
thecondition
conditionininwhich
which
the sensor field of view
view was
wasincreased
increased so
so that
that observations werewere received
received from
from all
all targets.
targets.
The
The term "preferential tracking"
tracking" has
has been coined to refer to the
been coined the selective
selective use of tracks
tracks or
or observations in data
observations in
association.8 InInpreferential
association.8 preferential tracking
tracking only
onlyaa subset
subset of
of the potentially available
the potentially availabletracks
tracks or
or observations
observationsisis used
used in
in the
the
association processing of the data
data from
from the
the field
field of
of view of
of aasensor.
sensor. These studies provide some indication
indication of
of the reduced
reduced
performance that can result from preferential tracking.
3.3 threat density.
3.3 SDI threat density.
Using the data association results presented

presentedin in the
the previous
previous sections
sections as
as background, wewe next consider the
the SDI
SDI target
tracking environment. Figure
Figure66shows
shows the
the expected
expected number
numberof of targets
targets within the track
track gates
gates for an isolated cluster of targets
targets
as a function of time
time since
since deployment
deployment fromfrom the
the bus
bus and
and of
of sensor
sensorresolution.
resolution. Note that this figure indicates the number
number
of targets, not observations, in a gate. Initially,
Initially, the
thenumber
numberofofobservations
observationsininaagate
gatewould
wouldbebesubstantially
substantiallyless
less than
than the
the
number of targets in the
the gate
gate because
becauseof ofthe
theunresolved
unresolvedclosely-
closely-spaced
spaced objects
objects as indicated in Figure 2. However,
However, the the
number of both targets and
and observations
observations in a gate could later increase substantially
substantially beyond that shown in Figure 66 due due to
clusters overlapping as they expand.
The results shown in in Figure

Figure 66 represent
represent the lower bounds
bounds that
that would
would be be obtained
obtained if there
there were no tracking error (only
(only
measurement noise). For Forthese
thesecurves
curvesthethetargets
targetswere
wereassumed
assumedtotobebeininclusters
clustersofof4040objects,
objects,with
withthe
therelative
relativevelocities
velocities
uniformly
uniformlydistributed
distributed over
over aa sphere. velocities were
sphere. The velocities were such
such that
that the
the diameter
diameter ofof the
the cluster
cluster sphere
sphere was approximately
equal to the time of deployment
deployment multiplied
multiplied by by44meters
metersper
persecond.
second.TheThe standard
standard deviation
deviation ofofthe
themeasurement
measurement error was
taken to be one
one-half
-half the resolution.
The expected number

The expected observations in
number of observations in aa track gate will
will depend
depend upon aa number
number of of factors,
factors, including
including sensor
performance, target
target density, update
update rate,
rate, and
and choice
choice of tracking algorithms.
algorithms. Figure 66 indicates
indicates that
that depending
depending on the range
to the cluster and the
the sensor
sensor angular
angular resolution
resolution there
therecould
couldbe
beaasignificant
significant number
number ofof targets
targets in
in the
the track
track gates
gates even for
these ideal conditions in which
which there
there isis no
no tracking
tracking error. Comparing these results with those of Figures
error. Comparing Figures 33 and
and 5 clearly
indicates
indicates that misassociation
misassociation and
and resulting
resulting track
track degradation
degradation could
could be
be a major problem for SDI if the sensor sensor does not
provide sufficient resolution.
SPIE Vol.
SPIE Vol. 1096
1096 Signal
Signal and
andData
DataProcessing
ProcessingofofSmall
SmallTargets
Targets1989
1989/ / 249
249

MULTIPLE SENSOR
4. MULTIPLE PROCESSING ARCHITECTURES
SENSOR PROCESSING ARCHITECTURES
There are
are many
many approaches
approaches totocombining
combining data from multiple
data from sensors and distributing
multiple sensors the processing
distributing the multiple
over multiple
processing over
platforms or vehicles. The selection
vehicles. The of a specific architecture can have a substantial impact on tracking performance and
selection of
Majorconsiderations
the processors. Major
total weight of the datamisassociation,
includedata
considerationsinclude load, and
communicationload,
misassociation, communication survivability.
andsurvivability.
This section examines some of the basic types of processing architecture applicable applicable to aerospace-based
toaerospace surveillance.
-based surveillance.
One approach
approach isis centralized processingin
centralized processing which, in effect, a single global
in which, track file
global track formed using
file isisformed observations from
the observations
usingthe from
sensors. In this approach there
all sensors. only be a single
should only
there should foreach
trackfor
single track An alternative approach forms local track
target. An
eachtarget. track
files based
files individual sensor data or
based upon individual upon only
or upon those observations
only those determined to
observations determined bewithin
tobe surveillance
specifiedsurveillance
withinaaspecified
volume. Using this approach,
volume. thereisisthe
approach, there potentialtotoform
thepotential morethan
formmore trackon
onetrack
thanone anygiven
onany target.Thus,
giventarget. track-to-track
Thus,track -to -track
association and track
association and track fusion
fusion may
maybe be aa very importantpart
veryimportant the system
of the
part of forthe
logicfor
systemlogic latterapproach.
thelatter approach. The processing
The processing
encompasses track
architecture encompasses initiation and
track initiation termination, as
and termination, well as track maintenance.
as well
have been
Four generic types of processing chains for track maintenance have aerospace -based surveillance
been identified for aerospace-based surveillance
fourtypes,
Thesefour
applications such as SDI.6 These whichhave
types,which sincebeen
havesince adoptedby
beenadopted anSDI
byan trackingpane1,12
SDItracking are as
panel,12 are follows.
as follows.
Independent Sensor
Type I: Independent sensor independently of
Sensor Processing - Tracks are processed for each sensor the data
of the from the
data from the
Frame-to-frame
other sensors. Frame -to -frame association and are performed
and filtering are any sensor
without any
performedwithout -to- sensor processing.
sensor-to-sensor processing.
1p-II:
Type II: Hierarchical Sensorlevel
Processing-- Sensor
Hierarchical Processing followed by track fusion. Frame
processing isis followed
level processing -to -frame association
Frame-to-frame
are followed
and filtering are -to- sensorprocessing.
sensors-to-sensor
followed by sensors processing. Each involved in two association
observation isis involved
Each observation processes.
association processes.
position estimation
target position
Type III: Observation Fusion - Multiple sensor, observation association, and target followed
estimationisis followed
by frame -to -frameassociation
frame-to-frame and filtering.
association and filtering. Sensor processing precedes frame
-to- sensor processing
Sensor-to-sensor -to -frame processing.
frame-to-frame processing. EachEach
subjected to two association processes.
observation isis subjected
Type IV: Centralized Observation-to-track
Processing--Observation
Centralized Processing association is followed by mutiple
-to -track association Associa-
mutiple sensor filtering. Associa-
of data
tion is performed on each frame of each sensor as it becomes available.
data from each per target
available. Only one track file record per is
target is
required in the entire
required system. Only
entire system. association process is performed on each observation.
one association
Only one
chain and the physical
A clear distinction can be made between the functional (logical) processing chain of the
distribution of
physical distribution the
processing. With multiple platforms andand on -board processing, there are
on-board number of
are aa number ways in which the processing can be
ofways
physicallydistributed
physically type of
distributed over the platforms for a given type chain. Thus
processingchain.
ofprocessing each basic
for each
Thus for there are alternative
type, there
basic type,
implementation methods some of discussed below.
of which are discussed
4.1
4.1 Centralized data association.
(Type IV)
approach (Type
A major advantage of the centralized approach accuracy is maximized. A
tracking accuracy
that tracking
IV) isis that targettrack
A target that
trackthat
consists of
consists fromall
observationsfrom
ofobservations shouldbe
sensorsshould
allsensors accuratethan
moreaccurate
bemore thetracks
thanthe couldbe
thatcould
tracksthat established on
be established the partial
on the partial
the individual
data received by the sensors. Then, as a further important factor in performance, increased
individual sensors. accuracy will
trackaccuracy
increasedtrack
decrease misassociation. However, the
misassociation. However, the centralized requiresbackup
approachrequires
centralized approach processingand
backupprocessing trackfiles
andtrack survivability
forsurvivability
filesfor
the platform
case the
in case the central
containing the
platform (or platforms) containing file fails. Figure 7 shows
track file
central track method for implementing the
one method
shows one
centralized processing approach. Here, Here,all targettracks,
alltarget wellas
tracks,asaswell as aastar file, are
starfile, maintainedwithin
are maintained processor.
centralprocessor.
withinaacentral
All sensor observations are sent
observations are to the
sent to central processor for
the central association and
for association newtrack
and new initiation. Upon
trackinitiation. association, track
Upon association, track
filter update is performed.
Due to the large number of
large number ofpotential asindicated
tracks, as
potentialtracks, centralizedimplementation
earlier,centralized
indicatedearlier, Figure 77 isis
shownininFigure
implementationshown
surveillancesystems
large -scale surveillance
probably impractical for large-scale suchasasSDI.
systemssuch Thus,aapartially
SDI.Thus, distributed processing method is
partiallydistributed
amount of processing on
order to reduce the peak amount
desirable in order anyone
on any both the
processor. Either or both
oneprocessor. processing and the
the processing
track files Manydifferent
can be distributed. Many
files can typesof
differenttypes processing/track distributions
ofprocessing/track can be
distributions can identified; one
be identified; these,
ofthese,
one of
distributed central
distributed -level processing, is discussed in Section 4.3.
central-level
Distributedsensor
4.2 Distributed -level tracking.
sensor-level
One data (TypeII)

approach (Type
data fusion approach tocombine
II)isisto -level tracks
sensor-level
combinesensor individual sensor
established independently by individual
tracks established sensor
platforms.2 lead to
platforms.2 However, this can lead sensor level misassociations because
to sensor advantage of
take advantage
because these tracks do not take data from
of data
other sensors.
sensors. This
This is especially true near an
is especially an edge where targets are entering
edge where field of
entering the field view. IfIfthere
of view. potential
arepotential
thereare
Vol.1096
SPIEVol
250 //SPIE andData
Signaland
1096Signal ofSmall
Processing of
DataProcessing 1989
Targets 1989
Small Targets

maneuvers,
maneuvers, then
then special filtering methods
methods are needed for this fusion
fusion approach.3
approach.3 The misassociations would be be reduced
reduced ifif
the fused track data
data is
is fed back for use by the individual
individual sensor
sensor track
track processing.
processing. However, this option leads to a number
number
of complications that need
need to
to be
be addressed.
addressed.Also,Also,the
theproblems
problemsassociated
associatedwith
withperforming
performingthe
therequired
requiredtrack
track-to-track
-to -track
and track
association and trackfusion
fusionare
aresignificant
significant.2*3
23
the other
On the otherhand,
hand,points
pointstypically
typically cited
cited ininfavor
favorofofthe
thesensor -level approach
sensor-level approach areare reduced
reduceddata -bus loading
data-bus loading
(presumably
(presumably because
because only
only tracks
tracks and
and not
not all
all observation
observation data
data need
need be transmitted), distribution of the computational
computational
and high survivability.
loading and survivability. Also, if one sensor becomes degraded,
degraded, its
its observations
observationswill
will not
not affect
affect the
the sensor
sensor-level
-level tracks
tracks
of other sensors.
Figure 8 shows aa sensor-level
Figure sensor -leveltracking
trackingapproach
approachthatthatcould
couldbe beapplied
appliedtotothe
theSDI
SDIproblem.
problem.For
For this
thisapproach,
approach, separate
separate
track files are formed independently
independently using
using the observations from each sensor. Note Note that
thattrack
trackfusion
fusionisis required
requiredwhen
whenthe
the
sensor-level
sensor -leveltracks
tracks are
are formed central-level
formed into a central -level track
track file
file (by
(by the
the function
function called
called Multi Source Data
Data Fusion).
Fusion).
The feedback from the
feedback from the central
central-level
-level track file, formed by
by track
track fusion,
fusion, isisdenoted
denoted as
as optional
optional in Figure 8.6»8
8ó,8 However,
some form of feedback willwill probably
probably bebe required track initiation
required to reduce track initiation requirements
requirementsas astargets
targetspass
passfrom
fromthe
thefield
fieldof
of
view
view of
of one
one sensor
sensor to
to that
that of another. This
This problem
problemisis addressed
addressedin in Reference
Reference55by by the
the inclusion
inclusion of
of special
special local fusion
fusion
nodes which,
which, in
in addition
addition to performing track fusion,
fusion, also
also distribute
distribute tracks
tracks among platforms.
platforms.
A modified version of the sensor-level
modified version sensor -level tracking
tracking approach
approach shown in Figure
Figure 88would
wouldpartition
partition the
the global
global tracking
tracking problem
problem
into smaller local tracking problems. Under
tracking problems. Underthisthisapproach,
approach,a agiven
giventracking
trackingplatform
platformwould
wouldonly
onlybe
beresponsible
responsibleforforaasubset
subset
of the
the targets
targets or a small segment of the
the entire surveillance volume.
volume. Thus, this approach is considerably
considerably more complex than
pure sensor
sensor-level
-leveltracking
trackingbecause
because ofofthe
the potential
potential requirement
requirement to to transfer observations. This requirement
observations. This requirement would
would occur
occur
if the
the positions
positions of the tracks being maintained or the subset subset of the surveillance
surveillance volume
volume for
for which
which aa sensor
sensor platform
platform has
has
responsibility does not exactly
exactly coincide
coincide with
withitsitssearch
searchvolume.
volume.However,
However,this
thisapproach
approachcould
couldlead
leadtotopreferential
preferential tracking,
tracking,
which was discussed earlier.
The idea of partitioning thethe tracks

tracks so
so that
that each
each tracking
tracking platform
platform has
has responsibility
responsibility only for a small subset of the total total
targets tracks is an appealing one because of the potential clustering of SDI SDI targets. Under this
targets. Under this concept,
concept, data
dataassociation
association
requirements could
could conceivably
conceivably be greatly reduced because each platform would only be be performing data association on on
the small subset of targets contained in in its
its local
local track
track file.
file. However,
However, due
duetotocrossing
crossingtarget
targetgroups,
groups,asasseen
seenbybythe
the22-D
-D
viewing
viewingangles
anglesofofthetheEO
EO sensors,
sensors, there
there will
willlikely
likelybebereturns
returnsfrom
fromtargets
targetsfor
forwhich
whichthere
thereareare no
no local
local tracks.
tracks. Also,
Also,
simulation results have shown that that there can be considerable overlap of target clusters. Thus, Thus, the
thelack
lack of
of a global approach
will
will likely
likelylead
lead to
to severe
severe data problems with
data association problems with any
any form of sensor- oror local
local-level
-level tracking
tracking approach unless fused
approach unless
tracks are fed back for use at thethe sensor
sensor levels.
levels.
4.3 Distributedcentral
4.3 Distributed central-level
-level tracking.
Figure 9 shows
shows an approach thatthat maintains
maintains the
the accuracy
accuracyof ofcentral
central-level
-level tracking,
tracking, but also effectively
effectively distributes
distributes the
the
processing and the track
track files
files in a manner
manner similar
similar to that
that of
of sensor
sensor-level
-leveltracking.
tracking. In this approach, the global
approach, the global track
track file
file is
partitioned among M tracking platforms. Thus,Thus, the
the track
trackfiles
files are
are partitioned
partitionedso so that
thateach
eachtracking
trackingplatform
platformonly
only keeps
keeps aa
proportion 1/M
1/M of the total track
track file.
file.
approach shown
The approach shown in
in Figure
Figure 99 also partitions the processing. Observation
Observation-to-track
-to -track data
data association
association isis done
done on the
sensor platforms where the observations are received while
while track
track filter
filter update
update and gate formation are done atat the tracking
platforms that contain the tracks.
should be noted
It should noted that
thatthe
theapproach
approachshown
shownininFigure
Figure99isisvery
veryflexible
flexible because
because any
any given platform can function as as
either a sensor platform or aa tracking
tracking platform,
platform, or as as both. However,
However, as as previously
previously mentioned, this approach requires
other platforms to function
function asas backups
backups so
so that
that aa significant
significant proportion
proportionofofthe
thetrack
trackfile
file information
informationwill
will not
not be
be lost
lost should
should
a tracking platform fail.
5. CONCLUSIONS
5. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has summarized

summarized some of the more obvious obvious issues
issues associated
associatedwith
withthe
theMTT
MTTproblem.
problem. The emphasis has has
been on the most crucial, in the
the belief
belief of
of the
the authors,
authors, issues
issuesof
ofdata
dataassociation
associationand
andpartitioning.
partitioning. In particular,
particular, we indicated
problem for
that the MTT problem for future
futuresystems
systems will
will require the development
development of algorithms that go beyond those in present use
systems.
for MTT systems.
SPIE
SPIE Vol.
Vol. 1096
1096 Signal
Signal and
and Data
DataProcessing
Processingof
ofSmall
Small Targets
Targets1989
1989// 251

standardnearest
The standard nearest-neighbor dataassociation
-neighbor data associationmethods
methodsthat
thathave
havebeen
beenused,
used,for
forexample,
example,ininradar
radartrack
track-while-scan
-while -scan
systems2
systems2will
willprobably
probablynot notsuffice
sufficefor
forthe
thedense
densetarget
targetSDI
SDIenvironment
environmentor orthe
the low
lowobservables
observablesof ofADI. minimum, a
ADI. As a minimum,
group tracking algorithm will willbe
berequired
required for tracking the
the SDI
SDI target
target clusters
clusters that
that arise at the time of deployment of RVs RVs
and decoys
decoys from
from thethe bus.
bus. AAnew
newgeneral
generalgroup
grouptracking
tracking algorithm
algorithm applicable
applicable to SDI has has recently
recently been shown
shown to be
feasible,10
feasible,10but
butititrequires
requires considerable
considerable further
further refinement. The use
refinement. The use of
of all-
all-neighbors
neighbors data
data association,
association, such
such as
as the JPDA
algorithm,3
algorithm,3might
mightalsoalsobe
beconsidered
consideredfor for application
applicationduring
duringthis
thisstage.
stage. However,
However, application
application ofof this
this approach
approach to a very
very
high
high target
target density
density environment,
environment, such
such asas SDI
SDI will
willencounter,
encounter,hashasnot
notbeen
beenreported
reported inin the literature, possibly because of
the amount of resources
resources required.
Although group
Although group tracking
tracking may
may be certain segments
be appropriate for certain segments of the tracking
tracking history,
history, the requirements
requirements for
for
performing and maintaining discrimination, situation
situation assessment and weapons allocation are are ultimately
ultimately based
based upon
upon having
having
accurate
accurate individual
individualtarget
target tracks. Here, itit appears
tracks. Here, appearsthat
thatatatleast
leasta alimited
limitedapplication
applicationofofMHT -type methods
MHT-type methods maymay be
necessary.
necessary. References
References 44 and 5 discuss
discuss potential
potential approaches
approaches for the SDISDIproblem
problem in
inmore
moredetail.
detail. However,
However, asaswas
wasillustrated
illustrated
by the results
results shown
shownininFigure
Figure3,3,there
therewill
willbebea atradeoff
tradeoffbetween
betweenperformance
performanceand andcomputational
computationalresources
resourcesrequired.
required. Due
to the nature
nature of the
the SDI
SDI problem
problem in which
which all
allcomputing
computingmachinery
machineryshould
shouldbebeplaced
placedon
onthe
thesensor
sensorplatforms
platforms and maintained
maintained
there, the available
available computational resources will will place fundamental practical limitations
limitations on the algorithms
algorithms that
that can
can be
be
implemented.
reportedin
As reported inReference
Reference1,1,the
theFletcher
Fletchercommission
commission"concluded
"concludedthat
thatnew
newtrack
track-formation algorithmswould
-formation algorithms wouldhave
havetoto
be developed
developed to make a defense
defense feasible."
feasible." Also,
Also, the
theapparent
apparenttracking
trackingproblems
problems associated
associated with
with the
the Delta
Delta181
181 test16
test16
indicate that tracking may be a major issue eveneven for
for relatively
relativelybenign
benignfuture
futurespace
spaceexperiments.
experiments. Thus,
Thus, there clearly is
is the
the
necessity for
for aa long-term
long -termtechnology
technologyprogram
programtoto develop
develop andand evaluate
evaluatetracking
tracking and
and data
data association methods
methods for
for the
the SDI
SDI
near-term
near -term and
and far-term
far -term threats and for
threats and for other
otheraerospace
aerospace-based surveillance systems.
-based surveillance systems.
Another important
important issue
issue that
thatwill
will have a major impact on MTT performance
performance is is the
the distribution
distribution ofofprocessing
processing among
among
the tracking platforms. From
From thethecomputational
computationalpoint
pointofofview,
view, it would
would bebe desirable
desirable to to partition
partition the global MTT problem
into a number of smaller local tracking problems associated with with each
each platform. approachmay
platform. This approach may either
eithertake
takethe
theform
form
of sensor-level
sensor -leveltracking,
tracking,asasshown
shownininFigure
Figure8,8,or
ormay
mayassign
assignthe
theresponsibility
responsibilityfor
foraaparticular
particularset
set of
oftargets
targets or
or clusters
clusters to
to
given platform.
a given appealing from
platform. However appealing from aa purely
purely computational
computational point of of view this
this approach
approach may be, there are severe severe
potential data association problems thatthat may arise from this
this method
method duedue to
to crossing
crossingtarget
target clusters
clusters and
and the
the expansion
expansion andand
ultimate overlapping
overlapping of target
target clusters. As
Asshown
shown byby results presented
presented previously,
previously, the lack of a global data association,
association,
containing all tracks and observations
observations in the
the field
field of
of view for
for aa sensor,
sensor, can
can lead
lead to a dramatic increase
increase inin misassociation.
misassociation.
A related intuitively appealing general concept
concept is is that
that of
of tracking only certain targets of of particular
particularinterests,
interests,namely,
namely,
preferential tracking. For
Forexample,
example, onceonce discrimination
discrimination is is performed, it would be preferable to maintain tracks only on on
RVs, and not on all the decoys. Also, because
because ofof their predicted
predicted destination,
destination, some
some targets
targetsmay
maybe of more
be of more tactical
tactical interest
interest
However,asasdiscussed
than other targets. However, discussedabove,
above, due
duetotothe
theoverlapping
overlappingof oftarget
target clusters
clusters inin the
the22-D
-D measurement space
necessity to maintain an
and the necessity an accurate
accurate global
global track
track file,
file, this
this approach
approach would
would likely
likely lead toto aasignificant
significant increase
increase in
in
misassociation. The result
misassociation. result of
of this
this increase
increase in
in misassociation
misassociation wouldwould be discrimination
discrimination errors
errors and substantially degraded
tracking accuracy
accuracy onon those
those preferred require high
preferred targets that require high performance tracking.
Figure 9 shows
shows an
an architecture
architecture in which
which both
both the
the track
track files
files and
and the
theprocessing
processing are
are distributed
distributed while
while the
the advantages
advantages of
of
centralized processing
centralized processing are
are maintained. However, this
maintained. However, this approach
approach requires
requires considerable
considerable communication
communication and
and the
the use of
backup
backup processing
processing and
and track
track file
file maintenance. Clearly, the question of how
maintenance. Clearly, how to distribute the processing for the MTT
problem
problem requires careful study with an emphasis
emphasis on determining the impact of various processing distributions
distributions upon
tracking performance,
performance, particularly data association,
association, and the
the processor resources required.
A number of other important

important MTT
MTT system
system issues have
have not
notbeen
beendiscussed
discussedininthis
thispaper.
paper. These
These include
include potential
potential major
major
algorithm development areas such as sensor tasking, target kill
kill assessment,
assessment, threat
threat analysis
analysis and
and fault
fault detection
detection for degraded
sensors and tracking
tracking platforms. The apparent
platforms. The apparentlack
lackof
of adequate
adequatealgorithms
algorithms for
for application
application to
to these
these problems
problemsagain
again indicates
indicates
the necessity
necessity for
for considerable
considerable further study.
The required developmentof

required development ofthe
the tracking
tracking algorithms
algorithms for a specific application
application isis a long lead
lead time
time item.
item. Final hardware
and software
software design
design and
and development
development require the detailed
detailed definition
definition of
of tracking algorithms as well as algorithm
algorithmsizing.
sizing.
Before this can be achieved, performance andand required
requiredresources
resourcesneed
needtotobe
becharacterized
characterizedfor forcandidate
candidatealgorithms 6,8,9
algorithms.6*8*9
However, the authors believe that the MTT algorithms in useuse and
and described
described in
in the
the current
current literature
literature will not meet the needs
of SDI
SDI or ADI without modification or extensions.
extensions. Thus,
Thus, aa unified
unified technology program should be undertaken to ensure
252 //SPIE
SPIEVol.
Vol. 1096
1096 Signal
Signal and
and Data
Data Processing of Small Targets
Targets 1989
1989

that innovations in algorithms and technology
technology are successfully
successfully identified
identified and developed and lead
lead to
to aarobust
robustsystem
system that
that
will
will handle
handle the
the massive
massive threat
threat being addressed by SDI, the low observables of ADI,
addressed by ADI, or other aerospace
aerospace-based surveillance
-based surveillance
systems.
6. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
6. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Many colleagues at
at Hughes
Hughes Aircraft
Aircraft Company,
Company, tootoo numerous
numerous to
tolist,
list,have
havecontributed
contributedto
tothis
thispaper.
paper. The Monte Carlo
simulation results were funded
funded by IR&D
IR &D and
and other
other internal
internal Hughes funds. results were
funds. These results were obtained
obtainedwith
with the assistance
of P.
P. Birnbaum,
Birnbaum, T.
T. George-Shores,
George- Shores,J.J.Hyder,
Hyder, K.
K.Hell,
Hell,F.F.Paulsen,
Paulsen,T.
T.Pham
Phamand and M.
M. Trainoff.
Trainoff.
7. REFERENCES
7. REFERENCES
1. Adams,
1. Adams, J.A.
J.A. et
et al,
al, "SDI:
"SDI: The
The Grand
GrandExperiment,"
Experiment,"IEEE
IEEESpectrum,
Spectrum.September
September1985,
1985,pp.
pp.34 -46.
34-46.
2. Blackman, S.S., Multiple Target Tracking with

2. Blackman, with Radar
Radar Applications.
Applic. tions, Artech
Artech House, Dedham, MA
MA (1986).
(1986).
Bar-Shalom,
3. Bar- Fortmann, Tracking
Shalom, Y. and T.E. Fortmann, Trackingand
andData
DataAssociation,
Association.Academic
AcademicPress,
Press,San
SanDiego,
Diego,CA
CA(1987).
(1987).
4. Erbacher,
Erbacher,J.,J.,etetal,
al,"SDI
"SDIMidcourse
MidcourseTracker
Tracker/Correlator AlgorithmDevelopment,"
/Correlator Algorithm Development,"Proceedings
Proceedingsofof1987
1987Tri
Tri-Service
-Service
Data Fusion
Fusion Symposium,
Symposium. Laurel,Laurel,Maryland,
Maryland,June
June9-9-11,1987, pp.278
11,1987, pp. 278-290.
-290.
5. Alien, T.G.
5. Allen, T.G. et
et al,
al, "Multiple
"Multiple Information
Information Set
Set Tracking
Tracking Correlator
Correlator (MISTC)
(MISTC) Concept
Concept Development,"
Development," Proceedings
Proceedings
of 1987
1987 Tri-Service
Tri -Service Data Fusion Symposium,
Data Fusion Symposium, Laurel,
Laurel,Maryland,
Maryland,June
June9 9-11,1987, pp.342
-11, 1987, pp. 342-353.
-353.
6. Drummond,
Drummond,O.E.,
O.E.,"Lecture
"LectureNotes
Noteson
onMultiple
MultipleTarget
TargetTracking,."
Tracking,."October
October1985;
1985;revised
revised10
10April
April1989,
1989, Technol-
ogy
ogy Training
Training Corp.,
Corp., Torrance,
Torrance, Ca.
7. Drummond, O.E.,
7. Drummond, O.E., and
andS.S.S.
S. Blackman,
Blackman, "Multiple
"Multiple Sensor,
Sensor, Multiple Target Tracking Challenges
Challenges of the Strategic
Strategic
Defense Initiative," Proceedings
Proceedings ofof the
the 1st
1st National
National Symposium
Symposium on Sensor Fusion.
Fusion, Orlando, FL, April
April 1988.
1988.
8. Drummond,
Drummond, O.E.,
O.E.,"The
"TheAlgorithm
AlgorithmDevelopment
Development Challenge
Challenge of Tracking the SDI Dense Threat," IST Workshop
1ST Workshop
on SDI: BM/C3, IDA, Alexandria,
Alexandria, VA,
VA,November
November24,
24,1987.
1987.
9. Frenkel,
Frenkel,G.,
G.,T.S.
T.S. Paterson
Patersonand
andM.E.
M.E.Smith,
Smith, "SDI
"SDI Battle
Battle Management/C3
Management/C3 Algorithms Technology Program Plan,"
PaperPP-2068,
IDA Paper -2068, Institute Defense Analyses,
Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria,
Alexandria, VA,
VA, April
April 1988.
1988.
10. Drummond, O.E.,
10. Drummond, O.E., S.S.
S.S. Blackman, and K.C.
K.C. Hell,
Hell, "Multiple Sensor
Sensor Tracking
Tracking of
of Clusters
Clusters and
and Extended
Extended Objects,"
Objects,"
Proceedings1988
Technical Proceedings 1988 Tri
Tri-Service Data Fusion
-Service Data Fusion Symposium,
Symposium, Laurel,
Laurel, Maryland,
Maryland,1717-19
-19 May 1988.
1988.
11. Drummond,O.E.,
11. Drummond, O.E.,Multiple-
Multiple-Object Estimation, UCLA
Object Estimation, UCLAPh.D.
Ph.D. dissertation,
dissertation,1975.
1975. Xerox
XeroxUniversity
UniversityMicrofilms
Microfilms No.
75-26,954.
75 -26, 954.
12. Frenkel,G.
12. Frenkel, G.(Editor),
(Editor),Proceedings
Proceedingsofofthe
theSDI
SDITracking
TrackingPanels,
Panels,January
January1989
1989Sessions,
Sessions,Institute
InstituteofofDefense
DefenseAnalysis,
Analysis,
Alexandria, VA, January
January1989.
1989.
13. Schaum, A.
13. A. (Editor),
(Editor), Proceedings
Research Laboratory,
Laboratory, Monterey,
Monterey,CA,
- - , I of
s the
h NRL Seminar: Algorithms for Autonomous n
ate n_ Passive Surveillance,
r i Naval
CA,22 22-23 1989.
-23 February, 1989.
14.
14. Singer, R.A. and J.J. Stein, "An Optimal Tracking Filter for Processing
Processing Sensor
Sensor Data
Data of Imprecisely
Imprecisely Determined
Determined
Origin
Origin hi
in Surveillance
Surveillance Systems,"
Systems,"Proceedings
Proceedingsof
of 1971
1971IEEE
IEEE Conference
Conference on
on Decision
Decision and Control, Miami Beach,
Beach, FL,
FL,
December 1971, pp
December 1971, pp171
171-175.
-175.
15. Reid, D.B.,

15. Reid, D.B., "An
"AnAlgorithm
Algorithmfor
for Tracking
Tracking Multiple
Multiple Targets,"
Targets," IEEE
IEEETrans.
Trans.on
onAutomatic
AutomaticControl,
Control,AC -24, December
AC-24, December
1979, pp. 843
843-854.
-854.
16. Covault, C,
16. Covault, C., "SDI Delta 181
181 Achieves
Achieves Battle Satellite
Satellite Data Goals,"
Goals," Aviation
Aviation Week
Week and
and Space
SpaceTechnology,
Technology,
February15,
February 15,1988, pp14
1988, pp 14-17.
-17.
SPIE
SPIE Vol.
Vol. 1096
1096 Signal
Signal and
andData
DataProcessing
Processingof
ofSmall
SmallTargets
Targets1989
1989// 253

BUS FRAGMENTS
p®
DEPLOYMENT
POINTS
/__ i ,g
BUS
W.
'I)UNRESOLVED
\ t
O`
SHROUDS 4 O\N \ PARTIALLY
RESOLVED
(22
SECO \ RE-ENTER1Nß
RE-ENTERING
O O00\
ON
/ 1
RESOLVED TRAIN
®
1® BOOST TRACK.
BOOST TRACK, BOOST
BOOST TRACKING
TRACKING SYSTEM
SYSTEM INITIATES
INITIATES TRACKS
® SHROUDS,
@ INITIATE
SHROUDS. TRACKS
INITIATE WHEN
TRACKS WHENVIEWED
VIEWEDBY
BYMIDCOURSE
MIDCOURSE TRACKING
TRACKING SYSTEM
SYSTEM
® SECO,
(D BOOST
SECO. TRACKER
BOOST TRACKERDATA
DATACEASES
CEASES
®
(4)DEPLOYMENT, TRACK
DEPLOYMENT. BUS
TRACK BUSAND
ANDINITIATE
INITIATETRACKS
TRACKSON
ONNEW
NEW CLUMPS
CLUMPS
®
(§)FRAGMENTS, INITIATE
FRAGMENTS. TRACKS
INITIATE TRACKSON
ONPIECES
PIECES
® RESOLVED
(6) CLUSTERS,
RESOLVED CLUSTERS.TRACK
TRACKINDIVIDUAL
INDIVIDUALOBJECTS
OBJECTS FOR
FOR DISCRIMINATION, KILL
KILL
ASSESSMENT, AND BATTLE
ASSESSMENT. BATTLE MANAGER
0
@ RE-RE-ENTERING
ENTERING TRAINS, HAND
TRAINS. OVER
HAND OVERTO
TOTERMINAL
TERMINALTRACKING
TRACKING SYSTEM
SYSTEM
Figure 1. Birth-to-death
1. Birth -to -death tracking.
40
25
20
-D LOCATION
TARGET 22-D LOCATION
ESTIMATION ERROR
ERROR is
15
RESOLUTION - 250 M
RATIO =
2 FALSE SIGNALS GATE
MONTE CARLO
MONTE CARLO . 10
10 RUNS
RUNS
RSS ERROR
RSS ERROR WITH
WITH
LEGEND
FALSE SIGNALS
FALSE SIGNALS 10
o == U(0.0,2.01
U[0.0,2.0] M/S RSS ERROR
RSS ERROR WITHOUT
g-i o == U[0.5,2.0) M/S

U[0.5,2.0J M/S FALSE SIGNALS
FALSE SIGNALS
1 5
2400
00 55 10 15 20
o 800 1200 1600
TIME SINCE
TIME SINCE DEPLOYMENT (SEC) RESOURCES:
RESOURCES: THROUGHPUT
THROUGHPUT AND MEMORY FACTOR -NUMBER
MEMORY FACTOR NUMBEROF
OFTRACKS
TRACKS
Figure 2. Resolution history for a 40 target cluster.

2. Resolution 3. Relationship between tracking performance
Figure 3.
Figure
and required resources.
0.
I
®= 2.0
H=
I
LEGEND
LEGEND
2.0 OTHER
OTHER HITS
uIN GATE
HITS IN
3(=
X= 1.5
1.5 OTHER
OTHER HITS IN
IN GATE
GATE
0.2
20 ®== 1.0
1.0 OTHER
OTHER HITS IN GATE
HITS IN
O ®= 0.5
9= 0.5 OTHER
OTHER HITS IN GATE
HITS IN
TARGET 2 -D LOCATION
ESTIMATION ERROR
RATIO: 0.2
15
i
RSS ERROR WITH < 0.1
FALSE SIGNALS
10
á
RSS ERROR WITHOUT
FALSE SIGNALS
O
o. II
0.25
0.25 0.50 0.75 1.0
1.0 1.25 1.50 1.75 20
AVERAGE NUMBER OF FALSE SIGNALS
SIGNALS IN
IN A
A 99%
99% GATE
GATE
t 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 6(
showing
4. RSS position estimation performance showing
Figure 4. PERCENT OBSERVATIONS WITHOUT TRACKS
OBSERVATIONS WITHOUT TRACKS
seven scans
after seven
results after signals.
false signals.
of false
scans of Figure 5.
5. Observations established tracks
Observations without established
increase misassociations.
254 //SP/E
SPIEVol.
Vol. 1096
1096Signal
Signaland
andData
Data Processing of Small
Processing of Small Targets 1989
Targets 1989

SENSOR 11
SENSOR HIT /TRACK PAIRS
HIT/TRACK PAIRS
SIGNAL
PROCESSOR
PROCESSOR I
\\sz-~
I MITS TRACK
* MAINTENANCE
UNASSOCIATED
HITS
ASSOCIATION
ASSOCIATION
/ \ TR ACK FILE
s TAR AND
STAR /CENTRAL V" CORDS
~~l
T RACK FILE
TRACK FILE
ECORDS
RECORDS V F|LE /
1 TRACK P~"
DATA BAS E FILT R

FILTER
MANAGE* UPDATE
S TAR AND
STAR AND
RACK FILE
TTRACK
/cTyytN SAR FILE f
CORDS 1
'
fRECORDS
ECORDS
NITS
rs U-
yfr
r
HI
" TRACK TRACK

" MAINTENANCE
MAINTENANCE «
INITIATION
ASSOCIATION UNASSOCIATED
ASSOCIATION
SENSOR N HITS
NITS
SIGNAL
PROCESSOR
PROCESSOR I HHIT
IT/TRACK
/TRACK PAIRS
PAIRS
1
250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 • CENTRAL PROCESSOR
TIME SINCE DEPLOYMENT,
DEPLOYMENT. SEC
SEC
Figure 6. Number of
6. Number oftargets
targets in
in aa 99%
99% gate for Figure 7. Centralized data
7. Centralized dataprocessing
processing (Type
(Type IV).
IV).
a target in a cluster.
i
tfP a TRACK
TRACK AND TRACK
TRACK
TRACK r£>*^*
STAR FILE j£r5^
INITIATION RECORDS
5OG1P INITIATION RECORD "1 VILE' )
SENSOR 1 RECORDS
RECORDS N^XV?*
JNPS Nits
SIGNAL
(PROCESSOR
PROCESSO TRACK MIT /TRACK
HIT/TRACK TRACK
TRACK DATA
DA TA BASE
BASE
--M FILTER 8 MANAGER
kJA
NAGER
1__ HITS
^
^
MAINTE NANCF
MAINTENANCF
ASSOCIATION
ASSOCIATION
PAIRS
PAIRS --
* UPDATE RECORDS
U ( TRACK J
fI t
LOCAL PROCESSOR
PRO CESSOR 1
A
TRACK K>
0 ¡ OPTIONAL
RECORDS ^,/jJ OPTIONAL
* K/IULTI SOURCE
SOURC E
MULTI
CDATA
)ATA FUSION
TRACK 4"^ '::OPTIONAL

I OPTIONAL
RECORDS 1 1 dey
V S
O TRACK
TRACK
TRACK 1 ' ^~^
TRACK AND RECORC>S
INITIATION RECORDS V FILE )
SENSOR N
FILE
STAR FILE
RECORDS JNPS
O*
Ds
U
SIGNAL
PROCESSOR
1___ ^
-»
f
_^ TRACK
TRACK
MAINTENANCE
ASSOCIATION
ASSOCIATION
HIT TRACK
HIT TRACK
PAIRS *E
PAIRS
FILTER
UPDATE
TRACK
RECORDS
RECORDS
DA TA BASE
TRACK DATA
4-- - MANAGER
BASE
NAGER
(TRACK ]
HITS
L ^^s
LOCAL PROCESSOR
PRO CESSOR
Distributedsensor
Figure 8. Distributed sensor-level
-level processing (Type II).
UNASSOCIATEO
UNASSOCIATED OBSERVATIONS
II
LOCAL PROCESSOR
LOCAL PROCESSOR 1,1, SENSOR
SENSOR11 TRACK CENTRAL PROCESSOR A
GATES
PROCESSING,
SIGNAL PROCESSING, FILTER UPDATE TRACK
TRACK MAINTENANCE INITIATION
ASSOCIATION
ASSOCIATED
OBSERVATIONS e
LOCAL PROCESSOR
PROCESSOR 7, SENSOR
SENSOR 7
V
\7
CENTRAL PROCESSOR X
PROCESSING,
SIGNAL PROCESSING, FILTER UPDATE
TRACK MAINTENANCE 1 TRACK
ASSOCIATION GATES
UNASSOCIATED OBSERVATIONS
Distributedversion
Figure 9. Distributed version of
of centralized
centralized processing
processing (Type IV).
SPIE Vol.
SPIE Vol. 1096
1096 Signal
Signal and
andData
DataProcessing
ProcessingofofSmall
SmallTargets
Targets1989
1989/ / 255
255


Proceedings of Spie: Challenges of Developing Algorithms For Multiple Sensor, Multiple Target Tracking

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Proceedings of Spie: Challenges of Developing Algorithms For Multiple Sensor, Multiple Target Tracking

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PROCEEDINGS OF SPIE

Challenges Of Developing Algorithms

Oliver Drummond, Samuel Blackman

Oliver E. Drummond, Samuel S. Blackman, "Challenges Of Developing

Event: SPIE 1989 Technical Symposium on Aerospace Sensing, 1989,

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023 Terms of Use: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/terms-of-use

Oliver. E. Drummond and

The tracking system

The tracking of low observables

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

There critical open

2.1 Multiple sensor data

The major consequences

SPIE Vol. 1096

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

Although appealing, thethe concept

During the midcourse

In general, it is both inaccurate and

Reference 10 10 summarizes the development

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

A major factor that

The tracking task

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

2.8 Additional issues.

Various types of concurrent

The relationship between tracking

In this section we discuss in more detail

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

Using the data association results presented

The results shown in in Figure

The expected number

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

One data (TypeII)

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

The idea of partitioning thethe tracks

This paper has summarized

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

A number of other important

The required developmentof

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

2. Blackman, S.S., Multiple Target Tracking with

15. Reid, D.B.,

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

g-i o == U[0.5,2.0) M/S

Figure 2. Resolution history for a 40 target cluster.

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

DATA BAS E FILT R

" TRACK TRACK

TRACK 4"^ '::OPTIONAL

Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 16 Nov 2023

You might also like