A Localization Algorithm for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks

Localization is very important for wireless sensor networks. Many applications require the location information. In this paper, we propose a range based Monte Carlo localization algorithm, which builds upon the Monte Carlo localization algorithm. We improve the localization accuracy and efficiency by introducing the RSSI (received signal strength indication) ranging technique, which is a low power, low cost and low complexity ranging method. The ranging error of RSSI is always very large and always varying with the change of the real environment. Although the low accuracy and high uncertainty of the range measurements would appear to make the localization more difficult, our approach exploits it to improve the accuracy and efficiency of localization. Simulation results show that its performance is better than some other localization algorithms.