From receiver operating characteristic to system operating characteristic: evaluation of a track formation system

The authors discuss the application of multitarget tracking techniques in combination with a Markov chain model to the evaluation of a track formation system based on a composite logic. Target track detection probability is computed in the presence of false alarms. The target track detection probability versus the false track probability is plotted; the values of target detection probability and the false alarm probability are varied to conform to the system´s operating signal-to-noise ratio. This allows choice of the detector´s operating point so to satisfy the overall system requirements. A procedure for inferring the overall system capacity in terms of the minimum spacing of targets that ensures tracking with a certain reliability is presented. The entire methodology is illustrated by a case study of an actual system