Analytic Performance Modeling of Imaging Trackers.

Abstract : The major goal of this study was to analyze those limits that one can place on an imaging tracker performance in terms of fundamental properties of the sensor and the target such as vehicular dynamics and uncertainty, signal to noise of the sensor, and resolution. To accomplish these goals it was necessary to develop a complete imaging tracker system model including a model for the relevant scene, sensor, and observation, as well as a model for the tracker processor. It was also necessary to establish those measures and criteria by which a tracker's performance can be gauged so that one can produce from these analyses a systematic design procedure applicable to the design, development, and specification of tracker systems. A number of analytic tools that were seen as potentially applicable to tracker analysis were evaluated and a subset of these that were thought to have particular application were chosen. These tools were then applied to the models to produce bounds and approximations to the actual performance one could expect of a tracker in a given environment.