Distributed Communications Resource Management for Tracking and Surveillance Networks

摘要

We present a market-like method for distributed communications resource management in the context of networked tracking and surveillance systems. This method divides communication resources according to the expected utility provided by information of particular types. By formulating the problem as an optimization of the joint utility of information flow rates, the dual of the problem can be understood to provide a price for particular routes. Distributed rate control can be accomplished using primal-dual iteration in combination with communication of these route prices. We extend the previous work on the subject in a few important ways. First, we consider utility functions that are jointly-dependent on flow rates, to properly account for geometric synergy that can occur in sensor fusion problems. Second, we do not require that the rate-update algorithms have explicit knowledge of utility functions. Instead, our update algorithms involve transmitting marginal utility values. We present simulation results to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique.