Correlated source coding for fusion storage and selective retrieval

Motivated by the sensor network setting, we consider lossless storage of correlated discrete memoryless sources. The underlying tradeoff is between exploitation of inter-source correlation for low rate storage and efficient (low rate) selective retrieval from the fusion storage. We define the problem of shared descriptions (SD) source coding and relate it to the storage and retrieval problem. We present an achievable rate region for the SD problem and use it to characterize the storage vs. retrieval tradeoff