A distributed iterative self-positioning algorithm for wireless sensor networks

This paper proposes a cooperative localization technique for sensor network applications. The method uses anchor nodes or beacons, with known positions and orientations, which are placed amongst sensors whose positions and orientations are unknown. Both ranging and direction-of-arrival (DOA) measurements are taken between the target sensors and beacons. Autonomous sensor nodes then position and orient themselves independently using a dynamic iterative non-linear least squares algorithm, reducing the necessary beacon density and the computation required on each sensor node. The algorithm is shown to provide good positioning performance in cases of complex node cluster configurations where maximum-likelihood position estimates of multiple sensors are difficult to solve for in a joint manner.