Distributed Least Squares Algorithm for Continuous-time Stochastic Systems Under Cooperative Excitation Condition

Abstract: In this paper, we study the distributed adaptive estimation problem of continuous-time stochastic dynamic systems over sensor networks where each agent can only communicate with its local neighbors. A distributed least squares (LS) algorithm based on diffusion strategy is proposed such that the sensors can cooperatively estimate the unknown time-invariant parameter vector from continuous-time noisy signals. By using the martingal estimation theory and Ito formula, we provide upper bounds for the estimation error of the proposed distributed LS algorithm, and further obtain the convergence results under a cooperative excitation condition. Compared with the existing results, our results are established without using the boundedness or persistent excitation (PE) conditions of regression signals. We provide simulation examples to show that multiple sensors can cooperatively accomplish the estimation task even if any individual can not.