Tracking Multiple Air Tragets with Distributed Acoustic Sensors

The tracking of multiple air targets by a network of distributed acoustic sensor/processor nodes is considered. Since each sensor measures only the acoustic azimuths of the targets, cooperation among nodes in the distributed sensor network (DSV) is needed. A multiple-hypothesis approach to distributed tracking is used. Each sensor/processor forms hypotheses consisting of local azimuth and azimuth rate tracks for the targets. When the nodes communicate, hypotheses consisting of global position and velocity tracks are then formed. Simulation results for a network of several nodes are presented to illustrate the algorithms.