A Survey on Recent Advances in Distributed Filtering over Sensor Networks Subject to Communication Constraints

The sensor network (SN) has long been an ongoing research topic with many successful applications in a wide range of fields. Lying in the core part of this paper is the distributed filtering problem over SNs that has been gaining growing research interests. We aim to provide a timely survey on recent advances in the distributed filtering problems over SNs subject to communication constraints. First, some basic knowledge concerning the distributed filter design issue is provided in terms of background introduction and mathematical descriptions. Then, some frequently encountered network-induced complexities resulting from communication constraints are comprehensively reviewed. Subsequently, the latest research progress of the distributed filtering schemes is discussed in detail for various systems over SNs with different performance specifications. Furthermore, practical applications of the distributed filtering methods are presented that include target tracking and distributed generation. Finally, concluding remarks are given followed by possible future research directions.