Distributed Adaptive Norm Estimation for Blind System Identification in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract: Distributed signal-processing algorithms in (wireless) sensor networks often aim to decentralize processing tasks to reduce communication cost and computational complexity or avoid reliance on a single device (i.e., fusion center) for processing. In this contribution, we extend a distributed adaptive algorithm for blind system identification that relies on the estimation of a stacked network-wide consensus vector at each node, the computation of which requires either broadcasting or relaying of node-specific values (i.e., local vector norms) to all other nodes. The extended algorithm employs a distributed-averaging-based scheme to estimate the network-wide consensus norm value by only using the local vector norm provided by neighboring sensor nodes. We introduce an adaptive mixing factor between instantaneous and recursive estimates of these norms for adaptivity in a time-varying system. Simulation results show that the extension provides estimation results close to the optimal fully-connected-network or broadcasting case while reducing inter-node transmission significantly.