Combinatorial-restless-bandit-based transmitter–receiver online selection of distributed MIMO radar with non-stationary channels

In a distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar for tracking moving targets, optimizing sensible selections of the transmitter–receiver pairs is crucial for maximizing the sum of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratios (SINRs), as it directly affects the tracking accuracy. In solving the trade-off between exploitation and exploration in non-stationary channels, the optimization problem is modeled by a restless multi-armed bandits model. This paper regards the estimated SINR mean reward as the state of an arm (transceiver channel). The SINR reward of each arm is estimated based on whether it is probed. A closed loop is established between SINR rewards and the dynamic states of targets, which are estimated via the interacting multiple model-unscented Kalman filter. The combinatorial optimized selection of transmitter–receiver pairs at each time is accomplished by using the binary particle swarm optimization with the SINR index fitness function, where the index represents the upper bound on the confidence of the SINR reward. Above all, a multi-group combinatorial-restless-bandit closed-loop (MG-CRB-CL) algorithm is proposed. Simulation results for different scenarios are provided to verify the effectiveness and superior performance of MG-CRB-CL.