Time-constrained sensor scheduling for parameter estimation of distributed systems

The paper discusses an approach to configure a sensor network in a spatial domain that will be used to identify unknown parameters of a distributed system. Particularly, given a finite number of possible sites at which sensors may reside and imposing additional constraints on the accumulated time of sensing, we determine a scheduling policy for discrete scanning sensors so as to maximize a criterion based on the Fisher information matrix associated with the estimated parameters. A computational scheme based on the branch-and-bound method will be provided for the solution of the resulting combinatorial problem. Finally, the proposed technique will be illustrated with simulations on a sensor network scheduling problem for a two-dimensional convective diffusion process.