Particle filter initialization in non-linear non-Gaussian radar target tracking

When particle filter is applied in radar target tracking, the accuracy of the initial particles greatly effects the results of filtering. For acquiring more accurate initial particles, a new method called “competition strategy algorithm” is presented. In this method, initial measurements give birth to several particle groups around them, regularly. Each of the groups is tested several times, separately, in the beginning periods, and the group that has the most number of efficient particles is selected as the initial particles. For this method, sample initial particles selected are on the basis of several measurements instead of only one first measurement, which surely improves the accuracy of initial particles. The method sacrifices initialization time and computation cost for accuracy of initial particles. Results of simulation show that it greatly improves the accuracy of initial particles, which makes the effect of filtering much better.