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Towards Unique and Anchor-Free Localization for Wireless Sensor Networks

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Abstract

Despite a large number of approaches developed for wireless sensor network (WSN) localization, there are still many unsolved problems in this area. The challenges to be addressed are both in analyzing characteristics of the localizable WSNs and designing efficient localization algorithms under a variety of conditions. In this paper we first draw on powerful results from graph rigidity theory and combinatorial theory, revealing that the combination of distance constraint and bearing constraint leads to necessary and sufficient condition for unique localization. This enlightens our proposing an anchor-free and computationally simple ad hoc localization algorithm for WSNs. A novel combination of distance and direction estimation technique is introduced to detect and estimate ranges between neighbors. Using this information we construct unidirectional local coordinate systems to avoid the reflection ambiguity. Such local maps then converge to form a global network wide coordinate system using a transformation matrix [T], which finally leads to node absolute positions. Simulation results have shown that our algorithm achieves high accuracy without using any error refining schemes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Network Based Intelligent Computing, Jinan, China

    Yuan Zhang, Yuehui Chen & Yue Liu

  2. School of Control Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, China

    Yuan Zhang

Authors
  1. Yuan Zhang
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  2. Yuehui Chen
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  3. Yue Liu
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Correspondence to Yuan Zhang.

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Zhang, Y., Chen, Y. & Liu, Y. Towards Unique and Anchor-Free Localization for Wireless Sensor Networks. Wireless Pers Commun 63, 261–278 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-011-0337-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-011-0337-0

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