17,861 research outputs found
Consistency in Models for Distributed Learning under Communication Constraints
Motivated by sensor networks and other distributed settings, several models
for distributed learning are presented. The models differ from classical works
in statistical pattern recognition by allocating observations of an independent
and identically distributed (i.i.d.) sampling process amongst members of a
network of simple learning agents. The agents are limited in their ability to
communicate to a central fusion center and thus, the amount of information
available for use in classification or regression is constrained. For several
basic communication models in both the binary classification and regression
frameworks, we question the existence of agent decision rules and fusion rules
that result in a universally consistent ensemble. The answers to this question
present new issues to consider with regard to universal consistency. Insofar as
these models present a useful picture of distributed scenarios, this paper
addresses the issue of whether or not the guarantees provided by Stone's
Theorem in centralized environments hold in distributed settings.Comment: To appear in the IEEE Transactions on Information Theor
Distributed Regression in Sensor Networks: Training Distributively with Alternating Projections
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have attracted considerable attention in
recent years and motivate a host of new challenges for distributed signal
processing. The problem of distributed or decentralized estimation has often
been considered in the context of parametric models. However, the success of
parametric methods is limited by the appropriateness of the strong statistical
assumptions made by the models. In this paper, a more flexible nonparametric
model for distributed regression is considered that is applicable in a variety
of WSN applications including field estimation. Here, starting with the
standard regularized kernel least-squares estimator, a message-passing
algorithm for distributed estimation in WSNs is derived. The algorithm can be
viewed as an instantiation of the successive orthogonal projection (SOP)
algorithm. Various practical aspects of the algorithm are discussed and several
numerical simulations validate the potential of the approach.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the SPIE Conference on Advanced
Signal Processing Algorithms, Architectures and Implementations XV, San
Diego, CA, July 31 - August 4, 200
Fusing Censored Dependent Data for Distributed Detection
In this paper, we consider a distributed detection problem for a censoring
sensor network where each sensor's communication rate is significantly reduced
by transmitting only "informative" observations to the Fusion Center (FC), and
censoring those deemed "uninformative". While the independence of data from
censoring sensors is often assumed in previous research, we explore spatial
dependence among observations. Our focus is on designing the fusion rule under
the Neyman-Pearson (NP) framework that takes into account the spatial
dependence among observations. Two transmission scenarios are considered, one
where uncensored observations are transmitted directly to the FC and second
where they are first quantized and then transmitted to further improve
transmission efficiency. Copula-based Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT)
for censored data is proposed with both continuous and discrete messages
received at the FC corresponding to different transmission strategies. We
address the computational issues of the copula-based GLRTs involving
multidimensional integrals by presenting more efficient fusion rules, based on
the key idea of injecting controlled noise at the FC before fusion. Although,
the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is reduced by introducing controlled noise at
the receiver, simulation results demonstrate that the resulting noise-aided
fusion approach based on adding artificial noise performs very closely to the
exact copula-based GLRTs. Copula-based GLRTs and their noise-aided counterparts
by exploiting the spatial dependence greatly improve detection performance
compared with the fusion rule under independence assumption
Distributed Learning in Wireless Sensor Networks
The problem of distributed or decentralized detection and estimation in
applications such as wireless sensor networks has often been considered in the
framework of parametric models, in which strong assumptions are made about a
statistical description of nature. In certain applications, such assumptions
are warranted and systems designed from these models show promise. However, in
other scenarios, prior knowledge is at best vague and translating such
knowledge into a statistical model is undesirable. Applications such as these
pave the way for a nonparametric study of distributed detection and estimation.
In this paper, we review recent work of the authors in which some elementary
models for distributed learning are considered. These models are in the spirit
of classical work in nonparametric statistics and are applicable to wireless
sensor networks.Comment: Published in the Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Allerton Conference
on Communication, Control and Computing, University of Illinois, 200
Efficient calculation of sensor utility and sensor removal in wireless sensor networks for adaptive signal estimation and beamforming
Wireless sensor networks are often deployed over a large area of interest and therefore the quality of the sensor signals may vary significantly across the different sensors. In this case, it is useful to have a measure for the importance or the so-called "utility" of each sensor, e.g., for sensor subset selection, resource allocation or topology selection. In this paper, we consider the efficient calculation of sensor utility measures for four different signal estimation or beamforming algorithms in an adaptive context. We use the definition of sensor utility as the increase in cost (e.g., mean-squared error) when the sensor is removed from the estimation procedure. Since each possible sensor removal corresponds to a new estimation problem (involving less sensors), calculating the sensor utilities would require a continuous updating of different signal estimators (where is the number of sensors), increasing computational complexity and memory usage by a factor. However, we derive formulas to efficiently calculate all sensor utilities with hardly any increase in memory usage and computational complexity compared to the signal estimation algorithm already in place. When applied in adaptive signal estimation algorithms, this allows for on-line tracking of all the sensor utilities at almost no additional cost. Furthermore, we derive efficient formulas for sensor removal, i.e., for updating the signal estimator coefficients when a sensor is removed, e.g., due to a failure in the wireless link or when its utility is too low. We provide a complexity evaluation of the derived formulas, and demonstrate the significant reduction in computational complexity compared to straightforward implementations
Energy-Efficient Data Acquisition in Wireless Sensor Networks through Spatial Correlation
The application of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is restrained by their often-limited lifetime. A sensor node's lifetime is fundamentally linked to the volume of data that it senses, processes and reports. Spatial correlation between sensor nodes is an inherent phenomenon to WSNs, induced by redundant nodes which report duplicated information. In this paper, we report on the design of a distributed sampling scheme referred to as the 'Virtual Sampling Scheme' (VSS). This scheme is formed from two components: an algorithm for forming virtual clusters, and a distributed sampling method. VSS primarily utilizes redundancy of sensor nodes to get only a subset to sense the environment at any one time. Sensor nodes that are not sensing the environment are in a low-power sleep state, thus conserving energy. Furthermore, VSS balances the energy consumption amongst nodes by using a round robin method
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