Network Centric MFA Tracking Architecture Based on Soft-Level Data Association

This work presents a new network centric architecture for multiple frame assignment (MFA) tracking. The architecture improves on earlier network tracking schemes by allowing trackers to broadcast decisions about their local soft-level associations, via the Soft Associated Measurement Reports (SAMRs). The SAMR may be followed by an “Oops” message, if the soft association was incorrect and must be revoked. We show, however, that such revocations are very rare in most scenarios. This paper discusses the implementation of the new algorithm and presents simulation results. Considerable improvements in the consistency of the air picture are demonstrated, owing to the the reduced latency in transmission of measurement-to-track associations. The earlier network architectures, namely, the Centralized MFA, the Replicated Centralized MFA, and the Network MFA on Local and All Data, are also discussed in this work, as they form the foundation for the “Oops” algorithm.