Decentralized rate control for tracking and surveillance networks

We present a duality-based method for decentralized communication resource management in the context of networked tracking and surveillance systems. This method shares communication resources according to the joint utility provided by information of particular types. By formulating the problem as an optimization of the joint utility of information flow rates, the dual of the problem can be understood to provide prices for particular routes. Decentralized rate control is accomplished using primal–dual iterations in combination with communication of these route prices and marginal utility values. We build on previous work on the subject in a few important ways. First, we consider utility functions that are jointly dependent on flow rates, to properly account for geometric synergy that can occur in sensor fusion problems. Second, we do not require that the rate-update algorithms have explicit knowledge of utility functions. Instead, our update algorithms only require transmission of marginal utility values. We provide a proof of the convergence of the algorithm, and present simulation results to demonstrate its effectiveness.