Reconfigurable Mobile Wireless Sensor Network Coordination for Simultaneous Multi-Target Tracking

This paper presents a distributed coordination framework for simultaneous multi-target tracking using a mobile wireless sensor network (MWSN) based on discrete-event-system principles. The proposed framework employs a finite-state-machine architecture, where autonomous mobile sensors sequentially process detection and tracking events. Unlike passive tracking approaches that react to target loss after it occurs, the proposed strategy implements predictive handover through Extended-Kalman-Filter-based uncertainty propagation. This enables sensors to anticipate target loss and to reposition auxiliary sensors in advance, acquiring targets along their predicted trajectories. A bidding-based allocation mechanism coordinates sensor assignments by evaluating four competing objectives: network preservation, spatial proximity to handover points, temporal mission feasibility, and estimation uncertainty. The proposed framework integrates four components: EKF-convergence-triggered proactive handover, multi-objective competitive bidding, distributed min–max conflict resolution, and fusion-driven proportional navigation. Unlike existing methods, auxiliary sensors navigate using confidence-weighted EKF estimates shared by neighboring sensors rather than their own measurements. An ablation study over ten Monte Carlo trials confirms that each component contributes independently, with EKF-based predictive triggering identified as the dominant performance driver.