A weighted creditability localization algorithm for wireless sensor networks

The localization technology used to confirm the position of nodes and events proves to be a crucial function of wireless sensor networks. In this paper, an approach which applies the combination of RSSI technique in range-based mechanism and centroid localization technique in range-free mechanism, called weighted creditability localization algorithm (WCLA) is put forward based on the log-distance distribution model. The simulation results indicate that the typical localization error is less than 8% of the communication range when the path-loss exponent is 3 and with the optimal parameter configuration, the nodes´ coverage reaches 100% when the upper limit of average localization error is 9 meters which is no more than 9% of the communication range. WCLA needs little communication overhead and it doesn´t require a set of highly configured hardware. The localization performance of WCLA is remarkably better than the common centroid localization algorithm (CLA) and it´s no doubt that WCLA has a wide application meaning.