On optimal mobile RSSI-sensor positioning for multi target tracking

This paper presents an analysis on optimal mobile sensor configuration for multiple-target-tracking (MTT) with Received-Signal-Strength-Indicator (RSSI) based measurements. The analysis is based on the underlying assumption that the complexity of this inherently high-dimensional problem is reduced by employing a multi-agent distributed tracking system. The assumed system assigns a single target of interest (TOI) to each agent and treats the remaining targets as interference sources. The measurement interference due to these sources is effectively compensated for by exchanging TOI information between agents, and fusing this information during the estimation process. Proper sensor placement within such an environment represents a unique challenge and optimal solutions are fundamentally different from a conventional MTT scenario. The main results of this paper include formulation and subsequent simplification of the optimality criterion along with a suboptimal solution yielding competitive performance and superior efficiency. Simulation results are presented demonstrating the performance of the proposed solution and comparisons are made to existing techniques.