On group target tracking with binary sensor networks

Multiple target tracking within a monitored field usually focuses on tracking the trajectories of each individual target. However, it is incapable of identifying and locating each target when the amount of targets is large or multiple targets are closely distributed. Based on above consideration, this paper proposes a novel problem of tracking a group target, where a group target is a set of targets whose motions are correlated. A monitoring region covering all group members is proposed to represent the group target's location. And a report node is selected to collect sensor outputs for determining this monitoring region. Based on binary sensor network which is a generic model of sensor networks, we explore the fundamental limit of the accuracy of group target localization. Furthermore, to reduce network traffic, we propose two algorithms for estimating the center and radius of monitoring region. At last, we analyze the accuracy of these algorithms through both theoretical analyses and simulation resul.