IMM filtering on parametric data for multi-sensor fusion
Scott Shafer, Mark W. Owen · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2014
In tracking, many types of sensor data can be obtained and utilized to distinguish a particular target. Commonly, kinematic information is used for tracking, but this can be combined with identification attributes and parametric information passively collected from the targets emitters. Along with the standard tracking process (predict, associate, score, update, and initiate) that operates in all kinematic trackers, parametric data can also be utilized to perform these steps and provide a means for feature fusion. Feature fusion, utilizing parametrics from multiple sources, yields a rich data set providing many degrees of freedom to separate and correlate data into appropriate tracks. Parametric radar data can take on many dynamics to include: stable, agile, jitter, and others. By utilizing a running sample mean and sample variance a good estimate of radar parametrics is achieved. However, when dynamics are involved, a severe lag can occur and a non-optimal estimate is achieved. This estimate can yield incorrect associations in feature space and cause track fragmentation or miscorrelation. In this paper we investigate the accuracy of the interacting multiple model (IMM) filter at estimating the first and second moments of radar parametrics. The algorithm is assessed by Monte Carlo simulation and compared against a running sample mean/variance technique. We find that the IMM approach yields a better result due to its ability to quickly adapt to dynamical systems with the proper model and tuning.