Improved Robust TOA-Based Localization via NLOS Balancing Parameter Estimation

In this paper, the time-of-arrival-based localization problem under mixed line-of-sight/non-line-of-sight (LOS/NLOS) conditions is addressed. Previous studies show that existing robust methods perform well in dense NLOS environments, but generally perform badly in sparse NLOS environments. To alleviate this problem, we introduce a “balancing parameter” related to the NLOS errors and formulate a new robust weighted least squares (RWLS) problem with the source position and the NLOS balancing parameter as the estimation variables. The proposed method does not require the statistics of NLOS errors and the path status. By leveraging the S-Lemma, the RWLS problem is transformed into a non-convex optimization problem, which is then relaxed into a convex semidefinite program. Simulation results show that the proposed method works well for both the sparse and dense NLOS environments.