Linear coherent distributed estimation over unknown channels

We study linear distributed estimation with coherent multiple access channel model and MMSE fusion rule. The flat fading channels are assumed unknown at the fusion center and need to be estimated. We adopt a two-phase approach, which first estimates channels and then estimates the source signal, to minimize the MSE of the estimated signal. We study optimal power allocation under a total network power constraint. We consider the optimal power allocation scheme in which training power and data power for each sensor are optimized, and the equal power allocation scheme in which training power is optimized while data power for each sensor is set equal. In both schemes, the problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem and analytical closed-form solution is obtained. Analytic results reveal that (i) with estimated channels, the MSE approaches to a finite nonzero value as the number of sensors increases; (ii) the optimal training powers are the same in both schemes; (iii) the MSE performance compared with the case when channels are known shows the penalty caused by channel estimation becomes worse as the number of sensors increases. Simulation results verify our findings.