Performance comparison of TOA and TDOA based location estimation algorithms in LOS environment

In this paper, various positioning algorithms for range-based TOA and TDOA localization have been analyzed, which include the analytical method, least square method, approximate maximum likelihood method, Taylor series method, two-stage maximum likelihood method and genetic algorithm. The assumed scenario is an overdetermined system in a 3D space under line of sight (LOS) situation and a number of sensor nodes placed arbitrarily across this area. The performance of the algorithms has been compared in the assumed scenario. Both the average error and the failure rate have been investigated in terms of the number of reference nodes and the root mean squared error (RMSE) of the range estimation.