Fusion of Radar and Secondary Sensor Data Using Kinematic Models of Multiple Simultaneous Targets

We present a method for fusion of radar and secondary sensor data, e.g. AIS (Automatic Identification System), ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) or IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) data. The method is based on fusion of kinematic models of target trajectories from the two sensors into kinematic models of the associations. The method can handle several hundred simultaneous targets (shown for 529 x 529 targets + 1600 clutter plots). It does not require several iterations through the data set in order to find associations, and it includes track history from the two sensors. The mathematical framework of the method is based on Kalman filters, maximum likelihood and probability theory as well as kinematics.