An energy efficient localization algorithm for wireless sensor networks using a mobile anchor node

In this paper, we present an energy efficient localization algorithm for wireless sensor networks using a mobile anchor node. It is based on the distance measurement with extra hardware. The mobile node is equipped with a GPS receiver, RF (radio frequency) and ultrasonic transmitter. Each stationary sensor node is equipped with a RF and ultrasonic receiver. The mobile node periodically broadcasts its location information, and stationary sensor nodes take the positions as virtual anchor points. A sensor node’s location is computed by measuring the distance to the virtual anchor point using TDOA (time difference of arrival) method. After the first round localization is done, the un-localized sensor nodes can compute their locations with the help of localized stationary sensor nodes. Simulation results show that our proposed localization scheme outperforms the other localization schemes using mobile anchor nodes in energy efficiency and cost.