Understanding confidence of positioning measurements in collaborative outdoor environments

This article presents a study on the nodes positioning confidence in mobile collaborative scenarios. The confidence of nodes positioning is an indicator that allows providing appropriate services and information to mobile users. In mobile ad-hoc networks, nodes with positioning capabilities could share their position with their neighbors in order to allow these latter to determine their own location collaboratively and increasing their positioning confidence. We study the fluctuation of this confidence in mobile scenarios populated by nodes with and without positioning capabilities. We analyze the effect of changing the maximum communication range of the nodes, the amount of nodes with positioning capabilities present in the environment. We also studied the impact that produces the degree of nodes mobility. The findings of this study are presented and discussed.