6,420 research outputs found
The decentralized wald problem
Two detectors making independent observations must decide which one of two hypotheses is true. The decisions are coupled through a common cost function. It is shown that the detectors' optimal decisions are characterized by thresholds which are coupled and whose computation requires the solution of two coupled sets of dynamic programming equations. An approximate computation of the thresholds is proposed and numerical results are presented.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26739/1/0000291.pd
Unstructured sequential testing in sensor networks
We consider the problem of quickly detecting a signal in a sensor network
when the subset of sensors in which signal may be present is completely
unknown. We formulate this problem as a sequential hypothesis testing problem
with a simple null (signal is absent everywhere) and a composite alternative
(signal is present somewhere). We introduce a novel class of scalable
sequential tests which, for any subset of affected sensors, minimize the
expected sample size for a decision asymptotically, that is as the error
probabilities go to 0. Moreover, we propose sequential tests that require
minimal transmission activity from the sensors to the fusion center, while
preserving this asymptotic optimality property.Comment: 6 two-column pages, To appear in the Proceedings 2013 IEEE Conference
on Decision and Control, Firenze, Italy, December 201
Asymptotic Optimality Theory For Decentralized Sequential Multihypothesis Testing Problems
The Bayesian formulation of sequentially testing hypotheses is
studied in the context of a decentralized sensor network system. In such a
system, local sensors observe raw observations and send quantized sensor
messages to a fusion center which makes a final decision when stopping taking
observations. Asymptotically optimal decentralized sequential tests are
developed from a class of "two-stage" tests that allows the sensor network
system to make a preliminary decision in the first stage and then optimize each
local sensor quantizer accordingly in the second stage. It is shown that the
optimal local quantizer at each local sensor in the second stage can be defined
as a maximin quantizer which turns out to be a randomization of at most
unambiguous likelihood quantizers (ULQ). We first present in detail our results
for the system with a single sensor and binary sensor messages, and then extend
to more general cases involving any finite alphabet sensor messages, multiple
sensors, or composite hypotheses.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, submitted to IEEE Trans. Inf. Theor
On optimal quantization rules for some problems in sequential decentralized detection
We consider the design of systems for sequential decentralized detection, a
problem that entails several interdependent choices: the choice of a stopping
rule (specifying the sample size), a global decision function (a choice between
two competing hypotheses), and a set of quantization rules (the local decisions
on the basis of which the global decision is made). This paper addresses an
open problem of whether in the Bayesian formulation of sequential decentralized
detection, optimal local decision functions can be found within the class of
stationary rules. We develop an asymptotic approximation to the optimal cost of
stationary quantization rules and exploit this approximation to show that
stationary quantizers are not optimal in a broad class of settings. We also
consider the class of blockwise stationary quantizers, and show that
asymptotically optimal quantizers are likelihood-based threshold rules.Comment: Published as IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, Vol. 54(7),
3285-3295, 200
Preventing competition because of “solidarity”: Rhetoric and reality of airport investments in Spain
Spain is the only large European country in which airport management is strictly centralized and publicly owned. This peculiar institutional setting prevents competition among Spanish airports, and policy makers and bureaucrats in charge of the system regularly justify it on grounds of interterritorial solidarity. This paper tests whether allocation of investments in airports is effectively based on redistributive purposes, as claimed and looks at other factors to explain such allocation. Our empirical analysis suggests that neither a progressive redistribution target nor the scale economies criterion explain allocation decisions. Instead, we find that political factors have significant influence on the allocation decisions made by the government.Public Enterprise, Legal monopolies, Air Transportation, Models with Panel Data
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