Energy Efficiency of Universal Decentralized Estimation in Random Sensor Networks

Universal decentralized estimation (UDES) is one of the most well-known decentralized estimation techniques proposed for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). UDES and other decentralized estimation algorithms are proposed in view of the limited available energy at the sensors. In this work, we study energy efficiency of UDES for randomly deployed WSNs via finding the distribution and expected value of the number of bits that a sensor sends to the fusion center. Then, we find the probability of achieving a desired lifetime by the sensor. Our analytical results are verified through computer simulation.