An α-β target tracking approach to the benchmark tracking problem

This paper considers the α-β target tracking approach to the benchmark tracking problem for beam steering of an array radar system with highly maneuvering targets. Since α-β target trackers are widely used in practical radar systems, this investigation/design considers the implementation problems such practical trackers experience, i.e. the various benchmark radar/target cases introduce rate variations, track lags and noise characteristics. One objective of the α-β tracking approach is to develop fundamental α-β ´rules-of-thumb´ and outline countermeasures to variations in track rate, maneuvers, measurement noise and system changes. It is expected that the overall tracking performance of the α-β approach will be inferior to other design techniques such as extended Kalman filtering, fault detection and multiple model. However, the simplicity and computational savings of the α-β target tracker are engineering advantages.