A Space-Time Fusion Scheme for Dynamic-Event Region Detection in Sensor Networks

Abstract

Collaborative detection for continuously-varying event-region scenarios using wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has attracted much attention recently. However, most existing works adopt either a centralized approach, in which a powerful control center is used to reconstruct the entire random field, or a semi-centralized approach, in which extensive data exchange takes place among the sensors by means of real-value data communications. By contrast, the present study proposes a distributed dynamic event-region detection scheme for WSNs. The proposed scheme is based on a two-phase cooperative space-time decision fusion protocol. In Phase I, each sensor makes an initial decision in accordance with its Gaussian corrupted observation and previous decision. In Phase II, the nodes update their decisions in accordance with the decision information received from their neighboring nodes. The performance of the proposed scheme is compared with that of a semi-centralized detection scheme by means of computer simulations.