2 research outputs found
Likelihood Consensus and Its Application to Distributed Particle Filtering
We consider distributed state estimation in a wireless sensor network without
a fusion center. Each sensor performs a global estimation task---based on the
past and current measurements of all sensors---using only local processing and
local communications with its neighbors. In this estimation task, the joint
(all-sensors) likelihood function (JLF) plays a central role as it epitomizes
the measurements of all sensors. We propose a distributed method for computing,
at each sensor, an approximation of the JLF by means of consensus algorithms.
This "likelihood consensus" method is applicable if the local likelihood
functions of the various sensors (viewed as conditional probability density
functions of the local measurements) belong to the exponential family of
distributions. We then use the likelihood consensus method to implement a
distributed particle filter and a distributed Gaussian particle filter. Each
sensor runs a local particle filter, or a local Gaussian particle filter, that
computes a global state estimate. The weight update in each local (Gaussian)
particle filter employs the JLF, which is obtained through the likelihood
consensus scheme. For the distributed Gaussian particle filter, the number of
particles can be significantly reduced by means of an additional consensus
scheme. Simulation results are presented to assess the performance of the
proposed distributed particle filters for a multiple target tracking problem