The joint integrated probabilistic data association (JIPDA) filter is effective for automatic multi-target tracking in cluttered environments. However, it is well-known that when targets are closely spaced, the JIPDA filter encounters the track coalescence problem, leading to inaccurate state estimations. This paper proposes a novel particle swarm optimization-based JIPDA (PSO-JIPDA) algorithm, which improves the state estimation accuracy by optimizing the posterior probability density, effectively addressing the information fusion challenge in multi-target tracking scenarios with closely spaced targets. The trace of the covariance matrix of the posterior density serves as the objective func... More >