Improved DV-Hop algorithm for high accuracy and low energy consumption

Most improved DV-Hop algorithms focus on the localization accuracy while underemphasize the energy conservation. In order to enhance the energy saving of wireless sensor networks, these algorithms need to be further improved. Upgrading the positioned nodes to be new-born anchors is an economical scheme to expedite unknown nodes localization and reduce total localization rounds, thus favor energy saving. Using the scheme of upgrading positioned nodes, this paper proposes a new algorithm based on DV-Hop, which restricts the hop counts between unknown nodes and anchors to reduce the energy consumption in flooding broadcast of anchors information. To decrease the impact of new-born anchors' location errors on the positioning accuracy of unknown nodes, the upgrading round sequence of a new-born anchor is defined as the generation to distinguish its error influences. Taking the hop counts and the generations as weighting factors, the paper presents a new weighted average one-hop distance processing method to guarantee the localization accuracy. Simulation and analysis results show that the new algorithm can effectively decrease the positioning error and total localization rounds to take account of both the energy consumption and the accuracy of localization.