A GPS-less self-positioning method for sensor networks

One challenging issue in sensor networks is to determine where a given sensor node (SN) is physical located. This problem is especially crucial for very small SNs. In this paper, we present a GPS-less self-positioning method for sensor networks. In our method, a set of nodes, called as reference points (RPs), are deployed in the sensor network with overlapping regions of coverage. The RP periodically broadcasts beacon frames which contain localization data. The SN collects the beacon frames from RPs and processes the data in the frame, and then it can localize itself simply. The analysis of positioning accuracy is also given to show how well a SN can correctly localize itself.