<title>A bibliography of cluster (group) tracking</title>

Abstract

Cluster Tracking (also called group tracking) is a key approach to greatly reducing the required data communication and processing loads that can result from the extreme amount of ambiguous data that might be generated by radar and IR sensors in the early post boost phase of a ballistic missile. Cluster tracking is especially appropriate in tracking a mixture of resolved and unresolved objects as a cluster and simplifies the processing for initiating individual tracks when many of the target measurements are resolved. This paper presents the bibliography that resulted from a literature search on cluster tracking using data from one or more sensors. Although the focus was on cluster tracking, the literature search also uncovered papers on formation tracking and track partitioning (track clustering) and those papers are included in the bibliography. The paper also includes an introduction that provides an overview of cluster tracking and the advantages of tracking clusters. This includes a discussion of the four major types of cluster tracking and the uses and distinction between cluster tracking, formation tracking, and track clusters (partitions).