LPI-Based Joint Node Selection and Power Allocation Strategy for Target Tracking in Distributed MIMO Radar

This paper addresses the problem of the low probability of intercept (LPI) performance optimization for target tracking in the distributed MIMO radar systems through the transmitting resource scheduling (TRS) strategy. The mechanism of the proposed LPI-based TRS strategy is to adopt the optimization technique to collaboratively schedule the transmit radar node and signal power with the target tracking accuracy requirement, which aims to enhance the LPI performance of the overall system. Based on the existing research, we develop an intercept model to describe two stages of the signal intercept process with the specific interceptor equipped on the moving target, i.e., intercept and detection. Under the proposed model, the probability of report (PR) is proposed to evaluate the LPI performance for a single transmitting radar node. Then, we consider the maximum PR to represent the LPI performance metric for the overall system. Hence, using it as the objective function, the optimization problem is established with the constraints of the target tracking requirement and the system resource. By introducing the two-step partition-based solution, the proposed non-convex problem is solved efficiently. Finally, several numerical simulations demonstrate the theoretical calculations and validate the effectiveness of the proposed LPI-based TRS strategy.