On optimal fusion architecture for a two-sensor tandem distributed detection system

The paper revisits the classical problem of determining the optimal communication direction in a two-sensor fusion system. For the problem of signal detection in additive Gaussian noises, the paper attempts to reconcile the difference in existing literature about which sensor ought to serve as the fusion center for optimal detection performance. While there has been no general conclusion as to which direction is preferred for general detection problems, we establish that for the aforementioned Gaussian problem, having the better sensor, i.e., the sensor with higher signal to noise power ratio, serving as the fusion center is preferred for better detection performance. This is true for the cases of both deterministic signal detection and the Gaussian random signal detection.