Average information‐weighted consensus filter for target tracking in distributed sensor networks with naivety issues

In the consensus‐based state estimation, multiple neighboring nodes iteratively exchange their local information with each other and the goal is to get more accurate and more convergent state estimation on each node. In order to improve network scalability and fault tolerance, the distributed sensor networks are desirable because the requirements of the fusion node are eliminated. However, the state estimation becomes challenging in the case of limited sensing regions and/or distinct measurement‐noise covariances. A novel distributed average information‐weighted consensus filter (AICF) is proposed, which does not require the knowledge of the total number of sensor nodes. Based on the weighted average consensus, AICF effectively addresses the naivety issues caused by unequal measurement‐noise covariances. Theoretical analysis and experimental verification show that AICF can approach the optimal centralized state estimation.