In this paper we provide a study of channel-aware decision fusion (DF) over a “virtual” multiple-input multipleoutput (MIMO) channel in the large-array regime at the DF center(DFC).Theconsideredscenariotakesintoaccountchannel estimation and inhomogeneous large-scale fading between the sensors and the DFC. The aim is the development of (widely) linear fusion rules, as opposed to the unsuitable optimum loglikelihood ratio (LLR). The proposed rules can effectively benefit from performance improvement via a large-array, differently from existing sub-optimal alternatives. Performance evaluation, along with theoretical achievable performance and complexity analysis, is presented. Simulation results are provided to confirm the findings. Analogies and differences with uplink communication in a multi-user (massive) MIMO scenario are underlined.