A Diffusion Least-Mean Square Algorithm for Distributed Estimation over Sensor Networks

In this paper we consider the issue of distributed adaptive estimation over sensor networks. To deal with more realistic scenario, different variance for observation noise is assumed for sensors in the network. To solve the problem of different variance of observation noise, the proposed method is divided into two phases: I) Estimating each sensor’s observation noise variance and II) using the estimated variances to obtain the desired parameter. Our proposed algorithm is based on a diffusion least mean square (LMS) implementation with linear combiner model. In the proposed algorithm, the step-size parameter the coefficients of linear combiner are adjusted according to estimated observation noise variances. As the simulation results show, the proposed algorithm considerably improves the diffusion LMS algorithm given in literature. Keywords—adaptive filter, distributed estimation, sensor network, diffusion.