Cooperative target assignment and dwell allocation for multiple target tracking in phased array radar network

Abstract Motivated by networked anti-missile defense applications, a cooperative target assignment and dwell allocation (CTADA) algorithm is developed for multiple target tracking (MTT) in phased array radar (PAR) network. The basis of the CTADA scheme is to not only optimize the target-to-radar assignment, but also effectively allocate the limited time resource of each PAR to its responsible targets, such that the MTT performance could be efficiently improved in overload situations (the number of targets greatly exceeds the number of PARs). We formulate the resource allocation framework as a mathematical optimization problem, and use the normalized Bayesian Cramer-Rao lower bound as its objective function. The resulting optimization problem consists of two adaptable parameters, one for target-to-radar assignment and the other for dwell allocation. By exploiting the unique relationship between these two adaptable parameters, an efficient two-step solution technique, which consists of a convex relaxation step and a heuristic dividing step, is developed for the CTADA optimization problem. Simulation results verify the superiority of the proposed CTADA algorithm, in terms of the worst case tracking accuracy of the multiple targets.