Fastest Distributed Consensus Problem on Branches of an Arbitrary Connected Sensor Network

Abstract: This paper studies the fastest distributed consensus averaging problem on branches of an arbitrary connected sensor network. In the previous works full knowledge about the sensor network's connectivity topology was required for determining the optimal weights and convergence rate of distributed consensus averaging algorithm over the network. Here in this work for the first time, the optimal weights are determined analytically for the edges of certain types of branches, independent of the rest of network. The solution procedure consists of stratification of associated connectivity graph of the branches and Semidefinite Programming (SDP), particularly solving the slackness conditions, where the optimal weights are obtained by inductive comparing of the characteristic polynomials initiated by slackness conditions. Several examples and numerical results are provided to confirm the optimality of the obtained weights.