The discrete-time Distributed Bayesian Filtering (DBF) algorithm is presented
for the problem of tracking a target dynamic model using a time-varying network
of heterogeneous sensing agents. In the DBF algorithm, the sensing agents
combine their normalized likelihood functions in a distributed manner using the
logarithmic opinion pool and the dynamic average consensus algorithm. We show
that each agent's estimated likelihood function globally exponentially
converges to an error ball centered on the joint likelihood function of the
centralized multi-sensor Bayesian filtering algorithm. We rigorously
characterize the convergence, stability, and robustness properties of the DBF
algorithm. Moreover, we provide an explicit bound on the time step size of the
DBF algorithm that depends on the time-scale of the target dynamics, the
desired convergence error bound, and the modeling and communication error
bounds. Furthermore, the DBF algorithm for linear-Gaussian models is cast into
a modified form of the Kalman information filter. The performance and robust
properties of the DBF algorithm are validated using numerical simulations