Tracking performance of a phased array radar with revisit time controlled using the IMM algorithm

Since phased array radars have the ability to perform adaptive sampling of the target trajectory by radar beam positioning, proper control of the radar has the potential for significantly improving many aspects associated with the tracking of multiple maneuvering targets. The technique proposed in this paper uses the Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) algorithm to track maneuvering targets and control the revisit time and pointing of the radar. Since the output of the IMM algorithm better represents the accuracy of the state estimates during a maneuver than that of a single model filter, the IMM algorithm is used to compute an on-line measure of tracking performance to determine the revisit time of the next track update in order to maintain a given level of performance. Algorithms for computing the revisit time and pointing the radar using the output of the IMM algorithm are presented in this paper. Performance comparisons for constant and adaptive data rates are given with measurements provided by a simulated phased array radar