A fuzzy modeling approach to decision fusion under uncertainty

A multi-sensor decision fusion scheme is presented in which the probabilities associated with the local sensor decisions are known to vary in a nonrandom fashion around their design values. The uncertainties associated with the local decisions are modeled by means of fuzzy sets. A Bayesian approach is used to design the optimum fusion rule for the case where the local sensor decisions are statistically independent across the sensors. In order to reach a crisp decision, the global Bayesian risk is defuzzified using a criterion for mapping fuzzy sets on to the real line. The performance of the optimum fusion rule obtained is illustrated by means of a numerical example.