Simultaneous tracking and data association in an extended maneuvering target using the IMM methodology

Extended target tracking arises in situations where the resolution of the sensor is high enough to allow multiple returns from the target of interest corresponding to its different parts. Various formulations and solutions may be found in the literature. We concentrate on the data association aspect involved in the tracking problem and propose utilization of a general framework that allows reformulation of many seemingly unrelated problems in a similar way. Consequently, the extended object tracking problem is stated as a single generalized dynamical system with random coefficients and solved using a standard IMM-like algorithm.