Distributed detection of an unknown target in clustered wireless sensor networks

We consider the problem of distributed detection in wireless sensor networks. The sensors are randomly deployed according to a Poisson point process. The received power of the signal emanating form an intruding target is assumed to follow the inverse power law. We propose the real-time counting rule (rt-CR) detector to endow the system with real-time detection delay capabilities. We show that the number of detecting sensor nodes, for any target type and any detector, follows a Poisson distribution. An exact expression for the average number of detecting sensor nodes is found. Simulation results support the accuracy of our theoretical prediction.