Abstract Reliability based criteria are quite popular for optimal sensor network design. We present a modified definition of system reliability for sensor network design for two applications: reliable estimation of variables in a steady state linear flow process, and reliable fault detection and diagnosis for any process. Unlike the weakest-link based definition of system reliability in the literature, the proposed definition considers the entire system and is consistent with the reliability concept used in classical reliability literature. For each application, dual approaches for defining system reliability are proposed, and their analogy with the reliability problem in the classical reliability literature is established. Using examples and stochastic simulations, the advantage of using the proposed system reliability in contrast to the existing definition is illustrated. Part II of this series of articles presents methods for efficient generation of the system reliability function and its use in optimization-based approaches for designing optimal sensor networks.

中文翻译：

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基于全系统可靠性标准的传感器网络设计。第一部分：目标

摘要 基于可靠性的标准在优化传感器网络设计中非常流行。我们提出了两种应用的传感器网络设计的系统可靠性的修改定义：稳态线性流动过程中变量的可靠估计，以及任何过程的可靠故障检测和诊断。与文献中基于最弱链接的系统可靠性定义不同，所提出的定义考虑了整个系统，并且与经典可靠性文献中使用的可靠性概念一致。对于每个应用，提出了定义系统可靠性的双重方法，并建立了它们与经典可靠性文献中的可靠性问题的类比。使用示例和随机模拟，与现有定义相比，使用提议的系统可靠性的优势得到了说明。本系列文章的第二部分介绍了有效生成系统可靠性函数的方法及其在设计最佳传感器网络的基于优化的方法中的使用。