A New Approach to Linear/Nonlinear Distributed Fusion Estimation Problem

Disturbance noises are always bounded in a practical system, while fusion estimation is to best utilize multiple sensor data containing noises for the purpose of estimating a quantity--a parameter or process. However, few results are focused on the information fusion estimation problem under bounded noises. In this paper, we study the distributed fusion estimation problem for linear time-varying systems and nonlinear systems with bounded noises, where the addressed noises do not provide any statistical information, and are unknown but bounded. When considering linear time-varying fusion systems with bounded noises, a new local Kalman-like estimator is designed such that the square error of the estimator is bounded as time goes to $\infty$. A novel constructive method is proposed to find an upper bound of fusion estimation error, then a convex optimization problem on the design of an optimal weighting fusion criterion is established in terms of linear matrix inequalities, which can be solved by standard software packages. Furthermore, according to the design method of linear time-varying fusion systems, each local nonlinear estimator is derived for nonlinear systems with bounded noises by using Taylor series expansion, and a corresponding distributed fusion criterion is obtained by solving a convex optimization problem. Finally, target tracking system and localization of a mobile robot are given to show the advantages and effectiveness of the proposed methods.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Distributed Fusion Estimation with Sensor Gain Degradation and Markovian Delays

This paper investigates the distributed fusion estimation of a signal for a class of multi-sensor systems with random uncertainties both in the sensor outputs and during the transmission connections. The measured outputs are assumed to be affected by multiplicative noises, which degrade the signal, and delays may occur during transmission. These uncertainties are commonly described by means of independent Bernoulli random variables. In the present paper, the model is generalised in two directions: (i) at each sensor, the degradation in the measurements is modelled by sequences of random variables with arbitrary distribution over the interval [0, 1]; (ii) transmission delays are described using three-state homogeneous Markov chains (Markovian delays), thus modelling dependence at different sampling times. Assuming that the measurement noises are correlated and cross-correlated at both simultaneous and consecutive sampling times, and that the evolution of the signal process is unknown, we address the problem of signal estimation in terms of covariances, using the following distributed fusion method. First, the local filtering and fixed-point smoothing algorithms are obtained by an innovation approach. Then, the corresponding distributed fusion estimators are obtained as a matrix-weighted linear combination of the local ones, using the mean squared error as the criterion of optimality. Finally, the efficiency of the algorithms obtained, measured by estimation error covariance matrices, is shown by a numerical simulation example.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y CompetitividadEuropean Union (EU) MTM2017-84199-PAgencia Estatal de Investigació

Information fusion algorithms for state estimation in multi-sensor systems with correlated missing measurements

In this paper, centralized and distributed fusion estimation problems in linear discrete-time stochastic systems with missing observations coming from multiple sensors are addressed. At each sensor, the Bernoulli random variables describing the phenomenon of missing observations are assumed to be correlated at instants that differ m units of time. By using an innovation approach, recursive linear filtering and fixed-point smoothing algorithms for the centralized fusion problem are derived in the least-squares sense. The distributed fusion estimation problem is addressed based on the distributed fusion criterion weighted by matrices in the linear minimum variance sense. For each sensor subsystem, local least-squares linear filtering and fixed-point smoothing estimators are given and the estimation error cross-covariance matrices between any two sensors are derived to obtain the distributed fusion estimators. The performance of the proposed estimators is illustrated by numerical simulation examples where scalar and two-dimensional signals are estimated from missing observations coming from two sensors, and the estimation accuracy is analyzed for different missing probabilities and different values of m.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Programa FPU and Grant No. MTM2011-24718

Networked distributed fusion estimation under uncertain outputs with random transmission delays, packet losses and multi-packet processing

This paper investigates the distributed fusion estimation problem for networked systems whose mul- tisensor measured outputs involve uncertainties modelled by random parameter matrices. Each sensor transmits its measured outputs to a local processor over different communication channels and random failures –one-step delays and packet dropouts–are assumed to occur during the transmission. White sequences of Bernoulli random variables with different probabilities are introduced to describe the ob- servations that are used to update the estimators at each sampling time. Due to the transmission failures, each local processor may receive either one or two data packets, or even nothing and, when the current measurement does not arrive on time, its predictor is used in the design of the estimators to compensate the lack of updated information. By using an innovation approach, local least-squares linear estimators (filter and fixed-point smoother) are obtained at the individual local processors, without requiring the signal evolution model. From these local estimators, distributed fusion filtering and smoothing estimators weighted by matrices are obtained in a unified way, by applying the least-squares criterion. A simula- tion study is presented to examine the performance of the estimators and the influence that both sensor uncertainties and transmission failures have on the estimation accuracy.This research is supported by Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Agencia Estatal de Investigación and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER (grant no. MTM2017-84199-P)

Distributed Fusion Estimation for Multisensor Multirate Systems with Stochastic Observation Multiplicative Noises

This paper studies the fusion estimation problem of a class of multisensor multirate systems with observation multiplicative noises. The dynamic system is sampled uniformly. Sampling period of each sensor is uniform and the integer multiple of the state update period. Moreover, different sensors have the different sampling rates and observations of sensors are subject to the stochastic uncertainties of multiplicative noises. At first, local filters at the observation sampling points are obtained based on the observations of each sensor. Further, local estimators at the state update points are obtained by predictions of local filters at the observation sampling points. They have the reduced computational cost and a good real-time property. Then, the cross-covariance matrices between any two local estimators are derived at the state update points. At last, using the matrix weighted optimal fusion estimation algorithm in the linear minimum variance sense, the distributed optimal fusion estimator is obtained based on the local estimators and the cross-covariance matrices. An example shows the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms

Distributed Event-Triggered Nonlinear Fusion Estimation under Resource Constraints

This paper studies the event-triggered distributed fusion estimation problems for a class of nonlinear networked multisensor fusion systems without noise statistical characteristics. When considering the limited resource problems of two kinds of communication channels (i.e., sensor-to-remote estimator channel and smart sensor-to-fusion center channel), an event-triggered strategy and a dimensionality reduction strategy are introduced in a unified networked framework to lighten the communication burden. Then, two kinds of compensation strategies in terms of a unified model are designed to restructure the untransmitted information, and the local/fusion estimators are proposed based on the compensation information. Furthermore, the linearization errors caused by the Taylor expansion are modeled by the state-dependent matrices with uncertain parameters when establishing estimation error systems, and then different robust recursive optimization problems are constructed to determine the estimator gains and the fusion criteria. Meanwhile, the stability conditions are also proposed such that the square errors of the designed nonlinear estimators are bounded. Finally, a vehicle localization system is employed to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed methods.Comment: 15 pages,9 figures. The first draft was completed in June 2021, and this is the revised versio

Covariance-Based Estimation for Clustered Sensor Networks Subject to Random Deception Attacks

In this paper, a cluster-based approach is used to address the distributed fusion estimation problem (filtering and fixed-point smoothing) for discrete-time stochastic signals in the presence of random deception attacks. At each sampling time, measured outputs of the signal are provided by a networked system, whose sensors are grouped into clusters. Each cluster is connected to a local processor which gathers the measured outputs of its sensors and, in turn, the local processors of all clusters are connected with a global fusion center. The proposed cluster-based fusion estimation structure involves two stages. First, every single sensor in a cluster transmits its observations to the corresponding local processor, where least-squares local estimators are designed by an innovation approach. During this transmission, deception attacks to the sensor measurements may be randomly launched by an adversary, with known probabilities of success that may be different at each sensor. In the second stage, the local estimators are sent to the fusion center, where they are combined to generate the proposed fusion estimators. The covariance-based design of the distributed fusion filtering and fixed-point smoothing algorithms does not require full knowledge of the signal evolution model, but only the first and second order moments of the processes involved in the observation model. Simulations are provided to illustrate the theoretical results and analyze the effect of the attack success probability on the estimation performance.This research is supported by Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Agencia Estatal de Investigación and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER (grant no. MTM2017-84199-P)

Two Compensation Strategies for Optimal Estimation in Sensor Networks with Random Matrices, Time-Correlated Noises, Deception Attacks and Packet Losses

Due to its great importance in several applied and theoretical fields, the signal estimation problem in multisensor systems has grown into a significant research area. Networked systems are known to suffer random flaws, which, if not appropriately addressed, can deteriorate the performance of the estimators substantially. Thus, the development of estimation algorithms accounting for these random phenomena has received a lot of research attention. In this paper, the centralized fusion linear estimation problem is discussed under the assumption that the sensor measurements are affected by random parameter matrices, perturbed by time-correlated additive noises, exposed to random deception attacks and subject to random packet dropouts during transmission. A covariance-based methodology and two compensation strategies based on measurement prediction are used to design recursive filtering and fixed-point smoothing algorithms. The measurement differencing method— typically used to deal with the measurement noise time-correlation—is unsuccessful for these kinds of systems with packet losses because some sensor measurements are randomly lost and, consequently, cannot be processed. Therefore, we adopt an alternative approach based on the direct estimation of the measurement noises and the innovation technique. The two proposed compensation scenarios are contrasted through a simulation example, in which the effect of the different uncertainties on the estimation accuracy is also evaluated.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Agencia Estatal de InvestigacionEuropean Commission PID2021-124486NB-I0