Communication Aware Optimal Sensor Motion Coordination for Source Localization

This paper is concerned with optimal mobile sensor motion coordination for source localization and tracking, taking into account of communication constraints. It is well known that this is a constrained nonlinear optimization problem. The usual way to solve this problem is to adopt a gradient like search algorithm or control strategy to obtain a local optimal solution. In this paper, we propose a novel method, which targets at a global solution for optimal mobile sensor placement in time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) and hybrid TDOA/angle of arrival-based far-field source localization problems. In the proposed method, first, an analytic solution to optimal mobile sensor positions for source localization and tracking is derived. Then, control laws are designed to force mobile sensors to converge to the expected optimal positions. Simulation results demonstrate our proposed method.