Distributed detection with mismatched sensors

Consideration is given to the problem of distributed detection based on a system of two sensors that transmit raw data to a central processor (fusion center) responsible for masking the final decision when the region jointly covered by the two sensors contains subregions that are blind spots to each of them. Preliminary assumptions include a known geometry of the visible and blind spots, symmetric coverage of the region by the two sensors and uniform distribution of a target in the coverage region. The authors formulate and compare three detection schemes. In the first scheme, the a priori information on the coverage factor along with the data from both sensors are used directly to detect the presence of the target with no attempt to estimate its position first. In the second scheme, a preliminary estimate of the target position is used to determine whether the target is visible by both sensors, one only, or none. In the third scheme, estimates of the most likely position of the target, if the target were present, are incorporated in the detection model and the presence of the target is detected by using a likelihood-ratio test