Algorithm design and error analysis of quantized RSSI based localization in wireless sensor networks

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Wireless Sensor Network localization is an important aspect in sensor network applications such as tracking and monitoring. The general goal of localization is to obtain the best position estimation of each node under the constraints of the deploying cost, the capability of a sensor node platform, and the properties of the deploying environment. The purpose of this research is to investigate new algorithms and analyze the characteristics of their localization error in sensor network localization. In this dissertation, a new received signal strength (RSS) based algorithm RangeQ is presented. The simulation results show that the partial- range-aware algorithm can improve the localization accuracy by reducing position errors up to 50% of the previous range-free localization results. Based on the above algorithm, the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) has been derived for the localization problem. Simulation results show that RangeQ outperforms two range- free algorithms. A new anchor placement algorithm for optimal or near-optimal CRLB result is also presented.