NONPARAMETRIC DISTRIBUTED DETECTOR USING WILCOXON STATISTICS

We propose a nonparametric detector for signal detection with distribu ted sensors. A constant signal in additive noise is to be detected whe re the only assumption made on the noise is that it has a symmetric pr obability density function. The proposed scheme uses Wilcoxon statisti cs followed by an M-level quantizer to generate the local decisions. E quations for solving the optimum thresholds for the quantizers are pre sented. The fusion center generates the final decision based on a line ar function of the local decisions, Numerical results show that this d etector provides better performance than other nonparametric distribut ed detectors with the same transmission bandwidth requirement. (C) 199 7 Elsevier Science B.V.