Estimation of Ad Hoc Network Topology Preserving Neighbor Relations among Nodes

Acquisition methods of locations of mobile wireless nodes in wireless multihop networks are required to be developed for location-dependent network applications. Especially for indoor wireless networks, various location estimation methods without GPS devices has been proposed. However in most of the conventional methods, since location of each mobile wireless node is estimated independently of the others, neighbor relations among the nodes are not preserved in the set of their estimated locations. In addition, since multiple stationary wireless nodes whose locations have been determined are required, it is impossible for the conventional methods to be applied to MANETs (mobile ad-hoc networks). This paper proposes a novel location estimation method whose estimated locations preserve the neighbor relations among nodes by applying 2-step location estimation in which a sequence of wireless nodes is estimated based on the neighbor relations before locations are estimated and which does not require stationary wireless nodes by estimation of relative locations among the wireless nodes. The proposed method is now only adapted to 1-dimensional MANETs and will be extended to be applied to limited 2-dimensional MANETs such as slender and mesh types distribution of wireless nodes.