Variation Bayesian Interference for Multiple Extended Targets or Unresolved Group Targets Tracking

Abstract: In this work, we propose a tracking method for multiple extended targets or unresolvable group targets based on the Variational Bayesian Inference (VBI). Firstly, based on the most commonly used Random Matrix Model (RMM), the joint states of a single target are modeled as a Gamma Gaussian Inverse Wishart (GGIW) distribution, and the multi-target joint association variables are involved in the estimation together as unknown information with a prior distribution. A shape evolution model and VBI are employed to address the shortcomings of the RMM. Through the VBI, we can derive the approximate variational posterior for the exact multi-target posterior. Furthermore, to demonstrate the applicability of the method in real-world tracking scenarios, we present two potential lightweight schemes. The first is based on clustering, which effectively prunes the joint association events. The second is a simplification of the variational posterior through marginal association probabilities. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method using simulation experiments, and the proposed method outperforms current state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy and adaptability. This manuscript is only a preprint version, a completer and more official version will be uploaded as soon as possible