Intelligent Ping Sequencing for Multistatic Sonar Systems

We study the problem of determining optimal pinging strategies in multistatic sonar systems with multiple sources. We are specifically investigating algorithms that determine optimal pinging strategies both for generalized search scenarios, and for holding confirmed target tracks with constraints related to maintaining search performance in the rest of the area. An important part of this work is the development of metrics to be used in the optimization procedures. For maintaining search coverage, we used a "probability of target presence" metric formulation. This formulation utilizes sonar performance prediction and a Bayesian update equation to incorporate negative information (i.e., searching an area but finding no targets). We also discuss strategies that can be used to increase the performance of a multistatic field, such as the use of bandwidth diversity