Rule-based multiple-target tracking in acoustic wireless sensor networks

This paper introduces an efficient rule-based algorithm for tracking multiple fast-moving ground vehicles in an acoustic Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). To reduce the level of power consumption, the acoustic sensor nodes in the WSN are assumed to be very simple in nature, having no capability to discern the direction and range of targets or to communicate directly with adjacent peer nodes. Instead the WSN employs a specialized fusion center that collects detection information directly from the sensor nodes. Accurate tracking of multiple high-speed targets can be affected by the Doppler shift and by the merging and splitting of target trajectories. To satisfy all of these requirements for target tracking in acoustic WSNs, a rule-based low-complexity tracking algorithm is presented in this work. The algorithm performs clustering of the detecting sensors and computes the weighted centroid of each cluster to determine the number of targets and their positions. The algorithm also takes into account the target path merging and splitting that necessitates cluster-to-cluster associations as well as detection-to-track associations. The algorithm compensates for the Doppler effect, has a relatively low computational complexity, and has been shown to have high overall track accuracy.