Study on mechanism of dynamic programming algorithm for dim target detection

An important, problem in the field of signal processing, sequence of infrared image detection which arouses peoples attention widely is the detection and tracking of dim moving targets in very low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) or signal-to-clutter ratio environment. In fact, dynamic programming is a problem of multi-stage decision, and Dynamic Programming Algorithm (DPA) is an effective approach which was adopted during the process of Track-Before-Detect(TBD). In current work, the mechanism of dynamic programming algorithm is analyzed, and a number of technical innovations that improve the performance of DPA are presented. Simulation results show this approach has high ability of detection for dim moving targets, and achieves 3~5dB SNR. gains comparable to those of other detection algorithms.