A simulation-based heuristic algorithm for disposition of direction finders

Abstract

A direction finder is a military weapon that is used to find locations of targets that emit radio frequencies. Multiple direction finders are used in a direction finder system for finding locations of targets in an area of interest. We present a two-stage heuristic algorithm for disposing direction finders in a direction finder system for the objective of maximizing the accuracy of estimation of the location of a target that is assumed to be located in the area of interest. In the suggested heuristic algorithm, a simulation-based method is used for estimating the probability of coverage, the probability that a target is in a given region (of a given size) surrounding the estimated location of the target, and another simulation-based method and a local search method are used to determine locations of direction finders that result in the maximum probability of coverage. Performance of the suggested algorithm is evaluated through computational experiments and results show that the algorithm gives a good disposition plan in a reasonable amount of computation time.