Quantization for Sequential Signal Detection

The quantization of the observed data for sequential signal detection is studied. The criteria used are the minimizations of the average sample number under the hypothesis, the average sample number under the alternative, and the maximum average sample number. Numerical results show that the performance is not very sensitive to different criteria. Using a sequential probability ratio test (SPRT), the performances of optimum quantizers are compared to systems with unquantized data. The asymptotic relative efficiencies of the quantizerSPRT's with respect to the SPRT for unquantized data are derived for symmetric noise densities. The relation between these asymptotic relative efficiencies and those of fixed-sample-size detectors is noted.