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)

Networked fusion estimation with multiple uncertainties and time-correlated channel noise

This paper is concerned with the fusion filtering and fixed-point smoothing problems for a class of networked systems with multiple random uncertainties in both the sensor outputs and the transmission connections. To deal with this kind of systems, random parameter matrices are considered in the mathematical models of both the sensor measurements and the data available after transmission. The additive noise in the transmission channel from each sensor is assumed to be sequentially time-correlated. By using the time-differencing approach, the available measurements are transformed into an equivalent set of observations that do not depend on the timecorrelated noise. The innovation approach is then applied to obtain recursive distributed and centralized fusion estimation algorithms for the filtering and fixed-point smoothing estimators of the signal based on the transformed measurements, which are equal to the estimators based on the original ones. The derivation of the algorithms does not require the knowledge of the signal evolution model, but only the mean and covariance functions of the processes involved (covariance information). A simulation example illustrates the utility and effectiveness of the proposed fusion estimation algorithms, as well as the applicability of the current model to deal with different network-induced random phenomena.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)

An Optimal Transmission Strategy for Kalman Filtering over Packet Dropping Links with Imperfect Acknowledgements

This paper presents a novel design methodology for optimal transmission policies at a smart sensor to remotely estimate the state of a stable linear stochastic dynamical system. The sensor makes measurements of the process and forms estimates of the state using a local Kalman filter. The sensor transmits quantized information over a packet dropping link to the remote receiver. The receiver sends packet receipt acknowledgments back to the sensor via an erroneous feedback communication channel which is itself packet dropping. The key novelty of this formulation is that the smart sensor decides, at each discrete time instant, whether to transmit a quantized version of either its local state estimate or its local innovation. The objective is to design optimal transmission policies in order to minimize a long term average cost function as a convex combination of the receiver's expected estimation error covariance and the energy needed to transmit the packets. The optimal transmission policy is obtained by the use of dynamic programming techniques. Using the concept of submodularity, the optimality of a threshold policy in the case of scalar systems with perfect packet receipt acknowledgments is proved. Suboptimal solutions and their structural results are also discussed. Numerical results are presented illustrating the performance of the optimal and suboptimal transmission policies.Comment: Conditionally accepted in IEEE Transactions on Control of Network System

A variance-constrained approach to recursive state estimation for time-varying complex networks with missing measurements

In this paper, the recursive state estimation problem is investigated for an array of discrete timevarying coupled stochastic complex networks with missing measurements. A set of random variables satisfying certain probabilistic distributions is introduced to characterize the phenomenon of the missing measurements, where each sensor can have individual missing probability. The Taylor series expansion is employed to deal with the nonlinearities and the high-order terms of the linearization errors are estimated. The purpose of the addressed state estimation problem is to design a time-varying state estimator such that, in the presence of the missing measurements and the random disturbances, an upper bound of the estimation error covariance can be guaranteed and the explicit expression of the estimator parameters is given. By using the Riccati-like difference equations approach, the estimator parameter is characterized by the solutions to two Riccati-like difference equations. It is shown that the obtained upper bound is minimized by the designed estimator parameters and the proposed state estimation algorithm is of a recursive form suitable for online computation. Finally, an illustrative example is provided to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the developed state estimation scheme.National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 61329301, 61273156 61333012, 11301118 and 11271103, the Youth Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of China under Grant QC2015085, the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under Grants 2015T80482 and 2014M560376, Jiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research Funds under Grant 1402004A, the Royal Society of the UK, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

Fusion Estimation from Multisensor Observations with Multiplicative Noises and Correlated Random Delays in Transmission

In this paper, the information fusion estimation problem is investigated for a class of multisensor linear systems affected by different kinds of stochastic uncertainties, using both the distributed and the centralized fusion methodologies. It is assumed that the measured outputs are perturbed by one-step autocorrelated and cross-correlated additive noises, and also stochastic uncertainties caused by multiplicative noises and randomly missing measurements in the sensor outputs are considered. At each sampling time, every sensor output is sent to a local processor and, due to some kind of transmission failures, one-step correlated random delays may occur. Using only covariance information, without requiring the evolution model of the signal process, a local least-squares (LS) filter based on the measurements received from each sensor is designed by an innovation approach. All these local filters are then fused to generate an optimal distributed fusion filter by a matrix-weighted linear combination, using the LS optimality criterion. Moreover, a recursive algorithm for the centralized fusion filter is also proposed and the accuracy of the proposed estimators, which is measured by the estimation error covariances, is analyzed by a simulation example.This research is supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER (grant No. MTM2014-52291-P)

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

Centralized Fusion Approach to the Estimation Problem with Multi-Packet Processing under Uncertainty in Outputs and Transmissions

This paper is concerned with the least-squares linear centralized estimation problem in multi-sensor network systems from measured outputs with uncertainties modeled by random parameter matrices. These measurements are transmitted to a central processor over different communication channels, and owing to the unreliability of the network, random one-step delays and packet dropouts are assumed to occur during the transmissions. In order to avoid network congestion, at each sampling time, each sensor’s data packet is transmitted just once, but due to the uncertainty of the transmissions, the processing center may receive either one packet, two packets, or nothing. Different white sequences of Bernoulli random variables are introduced to describe the observations used to update the estimators at each sampling time. To address the centralized estimation problem, augmented observation vectors are defined by accumulating the raw measurements from the different sensors, and when the current measurement of a sensor does not arrive on time, the corresponding component of the augmented measured output predictor is used as compensation in the estimator design. Through an innovation approach, centralized fusion estimators, including predictors, filters, and smoothers are obtained by recursive algorithms without requiring the signal evolution model. A numerical example is presented to show how uncertain systems with state-dependent multiplicative noise can be covered by the proposed model and how the estimation accuracy is influenced by both sensor uncertainties and transmission failures.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)

Networked Fusion Filtering from Outputs with Stochastic Uncertainties and Correlated Random Transmission Delays

This paper is concerned with the distributed and centralized fusion filtering problems in sensor networked systems with random one-step delays in transmissions. The delays are described by Bernoulli variables correlated at consecutive sampling times, with different characteristics at each sensor. The measured outputs are subject to uncertainties modeled by random parameter matrices, thus providing a unified framework to describe a wide variety of network-induced phenomena; moreover, the additive noises are assumed to be one-step autocorrelated and cross-correlated. Under these conditions, without requiring the knowledge of the signal evolution model, but using only the first and second order moments of the processes involved in the observation model, recursive algorithms for the optimal linear distributed and centralized filters under the least-squares criterion are derived by an innovation approach. Firstly, local estimators based on the measurements received from each sensor are obtained and, after that, the distributed fusion filter is generated as the least-squares matrix-weighted linear combination of the local estimators. Also, a recursive algorithm for the optimal linear centralized filter is proposed. In order to compare the estimators performance, recursive formulas for the error covariance matrices are derived in all the algorithms. The effects of the delays in the filters accuracy are analyzed in a numerical example which also illustrates how some usual network-induced uncertainties can be dealt with using the current observation model described by random matrices