On algorithms for asynchronous Track-to-Track Fusion

This paper discusses three algorithms for the problem of asynchronous Track-to-Track Fusion (AT2TF) with track delays, where the information configuration of T2TF with partial information feedback (AT2TFpf) is used. This is the most practical configuration for AT2TF with time delays, since communication delays make full information feedback very complicated. The first algorithm is the optimal memoryless AT2TF under the Linear Gaussian (LG) assumption (denoted as AT2TFpfwoMopt), which is also the linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) fuser without the Gaussian assumption. The second is the Information Matrix Fusion for asynchronous T2TF (denoted as AT2TFpfIMF), which is an extension of the synchronous IMF algorithm. Both algorithms are novel. The third is an approximate AT2TF algorithm proposed by Novoselsky (denoted as AT2TFpfAppr). Among the three algorithms, only the first one theoretically guarantees the consistency of the fuser. The latter two algorithms involve certain degrees of heuristics. Simulation results show that, for the scenarios considered, AT2TFpfIMF is also consistent and has similar level of tracking accuracy as AT2TFpfwoMopt. On the other hand, AT2TFpfAppr has consistency problems. Further more, due to the simplicity of AT2TFpfIMF compared to AT2TFpfwoMopt, it is an appealing candidate for practical applications.