Implementation of a Multiple Target Tracking Filter on an Adiabatic Quantum Annealer

Recent work at Fraunhofer FKIE shows that Morefield's method for multiple target data association can in theory be solved on an adiabatic quantum annealer. Our calculations on a D-Wave device validate the theory and demonstrate the limitations of currently available adiabatic quantum annealers for solving the data association problem. The data association problem is formulated as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem; consequently, much of the discussion is relevant to other applications which are, or can be, posed as QUBO problems. For a single scan, the underlying QUBO is equivalent to a disordered classical Ising model. Using forward and reverse annealing, we show that the low-energy manifold of states of this equivalent Ising model can be identified as the high posterior likelihood, feasible MTDA assignments. This is validated by simulated annealing using Metropolis MCMC of the Ising model performed on a classical computer.