Scheduling of track updates in phased array radars

This paper presents an efficient algorithm for scheduling of search and update tasks in phased array radar. It is based on temporal reasoning with roots in the theory of knowledge-based temporal logic. The measurement of each task is scheduled according to a number of spatial and temporal constraints, all of which are transferred to the temporal domain. Though the algorithm does not necessarily compute the optimal time assignment to tasks, it has some very good characteristics. It has low computational complexity and load requirements. It offers flexibility in choosing final update time and it can be adapted to situational requirements. It computes update time exactly once for every measurement, and it has excellent computational properties compared to more general scheduling approaches. A radar system with this scheduling facility is registered by the Swedish Patent Office.