Energy-Efficient Distributed Estimation by Utilizing a Nonlinear Amplifier

This paper describes the development of an energy-efficient amplify-and-forward distributed estimation scheme using realistic amplifier models. Specifically, a novel algorithm is presented that enables distributed estimation in the presence of amplifier compression resulting from the energy-efficient but non-linear class AB operation. In this system, a digital predistortion scheme is utilized to fit the amplifier at each sensor to a mathematically tractable, soft compression function that roughly mimics the compression region of the amplifier. It is shown both analytically and via simulation that using this scheme has two benefits over linear amplifier operation: improved transmitter efficiency by operating the amplifier in compression, and reduced sensitivity to heavy-tailed distributions due to the soft saturation.