Title :
Detection Performance Limits for Distributed Sensor Networks in the Presence of Nonideal Channels
Author :
Cheng, Qi ; Chen, Biao ; Varshney, Pramod K.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Syracuse Univ., NY
fDate :
11/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Existing studies on the classical distributed detection problem typically assume idealized transmissions between local sensors and a fusion center. This is not guaranteed in the emerging wireless sensor networks with low-cost sensors and stringent power/delay constraints. By focusing on discrete transmission channels, we study the performance limits, in both asymptotic and non-asymptotic regimes, of a distributed detection system as a function of channel characteristics. For asymptotic analysis, we compute the error exponents of the underlying hypothesis testing problem; while for cases with a finite number of sensors, we determine channel conditions under which the distributed detection systems become useless - observing the channel outputs cannot help reduce the error probability at the fusion center. We demonstrate that as the number of sensors or the quantization levels at local sensors increase, the requirements on channel quality can be relaxed
Keywords :
sensor fusion; wireless channels; wireless sensor networks; asymptotic analysis; channel characteristics; channel quality; discrete transmission channels; distributed detection problem; distributed sensor networks; fusion center; nonideal channels; quantization levels; wireless sensor networks; Channel capacity; Distributed computing; Error probability; Fading; Quantization; Sensor fusion; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Sensor systems; System testing; Wireless sensor networks;
Journal_Title :
Wireless Communications, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TWC.2006.05147