An Analysis of Distributed Estimation Algorithms for Wireless Sensor Networks

Distributed estimation algorithms over Wireless Sensor Networks have been widely studied since the seminal work of Tsitsiklis. The goal of these algorithms is to make the network reach a consensus over the value of interest by means of local communications between the sensors. Currently there are no techniques for distributed estimation under dynamic communication constraints. Existing centralized multi sensor estimation techniques assume that the choice of which data to send from any particular sensor to the centralized node is fixed. This approach suffers serious disadvantages and is typically feasible for certain non critical static sensor situation. Future research is likely to focus on developing multi sensor estimation problem where there are time varying communication bandwidth constraints. This paper gives a brief survey of various distributed estimation algorithms applied to address the WSN issues like optimal design, node localization, data aggregation, clustering, node deployment, and target tracking.