Holographic & Channel-Aware Distributed Detection of a Non-cooperative Target

TL;DR

This paper introduces a holographic, channel-aware distributed detection method in wireless sensor networks that employs a reconfigurable metasurface to improve detection performance with minimal hardware, optimizing fusion and metasurface settings.

Contribution

It proposes a novel holographic architecture with a reconfigurable metasurface for enhanced distributed detection, along with low-complexity joint design strategies for system optimization.

Findings

Holographic fusion improves detection reliability.

Proposed schemes balance performance and complexity.

Simulation confirms effectiveness under simplified designs.

Abstract

This work investigates Distributed Detection (DD) in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), where spatially distributed sensors transmit binary decisions over a shared flat-fading channel. To enhance fusion efficiency, a reconfigurable metasurface is positioned in the near-field of a few receive antennas, enabling a holographic architecture that harnesses large-aperture gains with minimal RF hardware. A generalized likelihood ratio test is derived for fixed metasurface settings, and two low-complexity joint design strategies are proposed to optimize both fusion and metasurface configuration. These suboptimal schemes achieve a balance between performance, complexity, and system knowledge. The goal is to ensure reliable detection of a localized phenomenon at the fusion center, under energy-efficient constraints aligned with IoT requirements. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed holographic fusion, even under simplified designs.