Novel self-configurable positioning technique for multihop wireless networks

Geographic location information can effectively improve the performance (e.g., in routing or intelligent coordination) of large wireless networks. In this paper, we propose a novel self-configurable positioning technique for multihop wireless networks, based on a Euclidean distance estimation model and a coordinates establishment scheme. A number of nodes serve as the landmarks to establish a coordinates system. Specifically, any pair of landmarks estimate their Euclidean distance according to the shortest path length between them and establish the coordinates system by minimizing an error objective function. Other nodes in the network can accordingly contact the landmarks and determine their own coordinates. The proposed technique is independent of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs), and the established coordinates can be easily tuned to GNSS if at least one node in the network is equipped with GNSS receiver. Our simulation results show that the proposed self-configurable positioning technique is highly fault-tolerable to measurement inaccuracy and can effectively establish the coordinates for multihop wireless networks. More landmarks yield more accurate results. With the rectification of our Euclidean distance estimation model, four to seven landmarks are usually sufficient to meet the accuracy requirement in a network with hundreds of nodes. The computing time for coordinates establishment is in the order of milliseconds for a GHz CPU, acceptable for most applications in the mobile ad hoc networks as well as the sensor networks.