WAYNE R. BLANDING, Member, IEEE
PETER K. WILLETT, Fellow, IEEE
YAAKOV BAR-SHALOM, Fellow, IEEE
University of Connecticut
ROBERT S. LYNCH, Senior Member, IEEE
Naval Undersea Warfare Center
The maximum likelihood probabilistic data association (ML-PDA) tracking algorithm is effective in tracking Very Low Observable targets (i.e., very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) targets in a high false alarm environment). However, the computational complexity associated with obtaining the track estimate in many cases has precluded its use in real-time scenarios. Previous ML-PDA implementations used a multi-pass grid (MPG) search to find the track estimate. Two alternate methods for finding the track estimate are presented—a genetic search and a newly developed directed subspace (DSS) search algorithm. Each algorithm is tested using active sonar scenarios in which an autonomous underwater vehicle searches for and tracks a target. Within each scenario, the problem parameters are varied to illustrate the relative performance of each search technique. Both the DSS search and the genetic algorithm are shown to be an order of magnitude more computationally efficient than the MPG search, making possible real-time implementation. In addition, the DSS search is shown to be the most effective technique at tracking a target at the lowest SNR levels—reliable tracking down to 5 dB (postprocessing SNR in a resolution cell) using a 5-frame sliding window is demonstrated, this being 6 dB better than the MPG search.
Manuscript received December 20, 2005; revised August 31, 2005;
released for publication November 1, 2006.
IEEE Log No. T-AES/44/1/920397
Refereeing of this contribution was handled by E. K. Reedy.
This research is supported by the Office of Naval Research under
the University/Laboratory Initiative program.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the IEEE
Aerospace Conference, March 2005.
Authors' addresses: W. R. Blanding, P. K. Willett, Y. Bar-Shalom,
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of
Connecticut, 371 Fairfield Rd., U-1157, Storrs, CT 06269-9005,
E-mail: (willett@engr.uconn.edu); R. S. Lynch, Signal Progressing
Branch, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI 02841.
0018-9251/08/$25.00 © 2008 IEEE
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