The bits and flops of the n-hop multilateration primitive for node localization problems

The recent advances in MEMS, embedded systems and wireless communication technologies are making the realization and deployment of networked wireless microsensors a tangible task. Vital to the success of wireless microsensor networks is the ability of microsensors to ``collectively perform sensing and computation''. In this paper, we study one of the fundamental challenges in sensor networks, node localization. The collaborative multilateration presented here, enables ad-hoc deployed sensor nodes to accurately estimate their locations by using known beacon locations that are several hops away and distance measurements to neighboring nodes. To prevent error accumulation in the network, node locations are computed by setting up and solving a global non-linear optimization problem. The solution is presented in two computation models, centralized and a fully distributed approximation of the centralized model. Our simulation results show that using the fully distributed model, resource constrained sensor nodes can collectively solve a large non-linear optimization problem that none of the nodes can solve individually. This approach results in significant savings in computation and communication, that allows fine-grained localization to run on a low cost sensor node we have developed.

[1]  Srdjan Capkun,et al.  GPS-free Positioning in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks , 2001, Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[2]  Michael Harrington,et al.  Constellation: a wide-range wireless motion-tracking system for augmented reality and virtual set applications , 1998, SIGGRAPH.

[3]  Mani B. Srivastava,et al.  A distributed computation platform for wireless embedded sensing , 2002, Proceedings. IEEE International Conference on Computer Design: VLSI in Computers and Processors.

[4]  Stergios I. Roumeliotis,et al.  Synergetic localization for groups of mobile robots , 2000, Proceedings of the 39th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (Cat. No.00CH37187).

[5]  Miodrag Potkonjak,et al.  Smart kindergarten: sensor-based wireless networks for smart developmental problem-solving environments , 2001, MobiCom '01.

[6]  L. El Ghaoui,et al.  Convex position estimation in wireless sensor networks , 2001, Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM 2001. Conference on Computer Communications. Twentieth Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Society (Cat. No.01CH37213).

[7]  Deborah Estrin,et al.  Robust range estimation using acoustic and multimodal sensing , 2001, Proceedings 2001 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Expanding the Societal Role of Robotics in the the Next Millennium (Cat. No.01CH37180).

[8]  J. L. Roux.  An Introduction to the Kalman Filter , 2003 .

[9]  S. Helal,et al.  Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences , 2000 .

[10]  Martin Mauve,et al.  A survey on position-based routing in mobile ad hoc networks , 2001, IEEE Netw..

[11]  Satish Kumar,et al.  Next century challenges: scalable coordination in sensor networks , 1999, MobiCom.

[12]  H. F. Durrant-Whyte,et al.  Fully decentralised algorithm for multisensor Kalman filtering , 1991 .

[13]  Mani B. Srivastava,et al.  On the Error Characteristics of Multihop Node Localization in Ad-Hoc Sensor Networks , 2003, IPSN.

[14]  Miodrag Potkonjak,et al.  Exposure in wireless Ad-Hoc sensor networks , 2001, MobiCom '01.

[15]  Jan M. Rabaey,et al.  Robust Positioning Algorithms for Distributed Ad-Hoc Wireless Sensor Networks , 2002, USENIX Annual Technical Conference, General Track.

[16]  Mani B. Srivastava,et al.  Dynamic fine-grained localization in Ad-Hoc networks of sensors , 2001, MobiCom '01.

[17]  Gaetano Borriello,et al.  Location Systems for Ubiquitous Computing , 2001, Computer.

[18]  Gerard Tel.  Distributed Graph Exploration , 1997 .

[19]  Gaurav S. Sukhatme,et al.  Relaxation on a mesh: a formalism for generalized localization , 2001, Proceedings 2001 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Expanding the Societal Role of Robotics in the the Next Millennium (Cat. No.01CH37180).