Abstract
The asymptotic distribution of estimates that are based on a sub-optimal search for the maximum of the log-likelihood function is considered. In particular, estimation schemes that are based on a two-stage approach, in which an initial estimate is used as the starting point of a subsequent local maximization, are analyzed. We show that asymptotically the local estimates follow a Gaussian mixture distribution, where the mixture components correspond to the modes of the likelihood function. The analysis is relevant for cases where the log-likelihood function is known to have local maxima in addition to the global maximum, and there is no available method that is guaranteed to provide an estimate within the attraction region of the global maximum. Two applications of the analytic results are offered. The first application is an algorithm for finding the maximum likelihood estimator. The algorithm is best suited for scenarios in which the likelihood equations do not have a closed form solution, the iterative search is computationally cumbersome and highly dependent on the data length, and there is a risk of convergence to a local maximum. The second application is a scheme for aggregation of local estimates, e.g. generated by a network of sensors, at a fusion center. This scheme provides the means to intelligently combine estimates from remote sensors, where bandwidth constraints do not allow access to the complete set of data. The result on the asymptotic distribution is validated and the performance of the proposed algorithms is evaluated by computer simulations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Fisher, R.A.: On the mathematical foundation of theoretical statistics. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London 222, 309–368 (1922)
Huber, P.J.: Robust Statistics. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester (1981)
Huber, P.J.: The behavior of maximum likelihood estimates under nonstandard conditions. In: Proceedings of the Fifth Berkeley Symposium in Mathematical Statistics and Probability (1967)
White, H.: Maximum likelihood estimation of misspecified models. Econometrica 50(1), 1–26 (1982)
Gan, L., Jiang, J.: A test for global maximum. Journal of the American Statistical Association 94(447), 847–854 (1999)
Jain, A.K., Duin, R., Mao, J.: Statistical pattern recognition: A review. IEEE Trans. Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 22(1), 4–38 (2000)
Figueiredo, M.A.T., Jain, A.K.: Unsupervised learning of finite mixute models. IEEE Trans on Pattern Anal and Machine Intelligence 24, 381–396 (2002)
Dempster, A.P., Laird, N.M., Rubin, D.B.: Maximum likelihood from incomplete data using the em algorithm. Ann. Roy. Statist. Soc. 39, 1–38 (1977)
Wald, A.: Note on the consistency of the maximum likelihood estimate. Annals of Mathematical Statistics 60, 595–603 (1949)
Kay, S.M.: Fundamentals of Statistical Signal Processing - Estimation Theory. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1993)
Bickel, P.J., Doksum, K.A.: Mathematical Statistics, Holden-Day, San Francisco (1977)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Blatt, D., Hero, A. (2003). Asymptotic Characterization of Log-Likelihood Maximization Based Algorithms and Applications. In: Rangarajan, A., Figueiredo, M., Zerubia, J. (eds) Energy Minimization Methods in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. EMMCVPR 2003. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2683. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-45063-4_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-45063-4_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-40498-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45063-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive