Distributed detection with consulting sensors and communication cost

The problem of distributed detection with consulting sensors in the presence of communication cost associated with any exchange of information (consultation) between sensors is considered. The system considered has two sensors, S1 and S2; S1 is the primary sensor responsible for the final decision u₀ , and S2 is a consulting sensor capable of relaying its decision u₂ to S1 when requested by S 1. The final decision u₀ is either based on the raw data available to S1 only, or, under certain request conditions, also takes into account the decision u₂ of sensor S2. Random and nonrandom request schemes are analyzed and numerical results are presented and compared for Gaussian and slow-fading Rayleigh channels. For each decision-making scheme, an associated optimization problem is formulated whose solution is shown to satisfy certain set design criteria that the authors consider essential for sensor fusion