Resampling algorithms and architectures for distributed particle filters

Abstract

In this paper, we propose novel resampling algorithms with architectures for efficient distributed implementation of particle filters. The proposed algorithms improve the scalability of the filter architectures affected by the resampling process. Problems in the particle filter implementation due to resampling are described, and appropriate modifications of the resampling algorithms are proposed so that distributed implementations are developed and studied. Distributed resampling algorithms with proportional allocation (RPA) and nonproportional allocation (RNA) of particles are considered. The components of the filter architectures are the processing elements (PEs), a central unit (CU), and an interconnection network. One of the main advantages of the new resampling algorithms is that communication through the interconnection network is reduced and made deterministic, which results in simpler network structure and increased sampling frequency. Particle filter performances are estimated for the bearings-only tracking applications. In the architectural part of the analysis, the area and speed of the particle filter implementation are estimated for a different number of particles and a different level of parallelism with field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation. In this paper, only sampling importance resampling (SIR) particle filters are considered, but the analysis can be extended to any particle filters with resampling.