Efficient localization algorithm in wireless ad hoc sensor networks by utilizing radical centers

This study proposes an analytic localization algorithm by utilizing radical centers. Assume that a target node (blind node) can measure its distances to three or more anchor nodes (reference nodes). By picking three distance measurements to three anchor nodes, a radical center is computed. Through analytic formulation, the radical center is shown to be able to be treated as an estimation of the target node location. Since every three distance measurements generates one radical center, to further improve and fuse these estimations, effective filtering mechanisms are then proposed to filter out the improper estimations. Afterwards, the remaining radical centers are averaged, and the solution is the final estimation of the target node location. The location errors of the proposed method and the conventional MMSE (Minimum Mean Square Error method) are analytically compared. It is shown that the proposed algorithm outperforms the conventional MMSE method both in accuracy and efficiency. Extensive computer simulations were carried out and the results verify the advantage of the proposed location algorithm over the MMSE approach.