Target localization in Wireless Sensor Network based on Time Difference of Arrival

One of the most prominent challenges in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is target localization. As majority of the decisions made in navigation and path planning are dependent on current information available, target localization is one of the fundamental requirements. This paper presents accuracy studies on target localization using the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) method. An evaluation of the TDOA is presented through a random reference node by using four stationary sensors in a sensor network. Some of the fundamental advantages in the presented method are its simplicity through requiring only four reference nodes, tolerating errors in node positioning and time differences. Simulations results show that proposed TDOA method outperforms the centroid TDOA method in different test environments, with an average localization error of 2.36 m.