Algorithm for power allocation in localization processes

Due to sever attenuation of Global Positioning System (GPS) signals in indoor environments, GPS is not suitable for indoor localization scenarios. Consequently, ranging and localization in terms of having acceptably precise predicted position information of a moving target inside an indoor delimited area turn out to be a promising application for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In this paper the considered localization scenario consists of a set of fixed nodes called beacons with known positions. Beacons are applied to localization of a target moving inside a limited area. Localization algorithms designed for the mentioned scenario aim to provide accurate estimates of target position. In order to achieve this objective, also power allocation among beacons can be effective for enhancing localization performance. In this paper, we present a power allocation scheme to be applied among beacons with respect to a fixed amount of the total transmitted power. The proposed scheme is based on a power allocation procedure performed in a pair-wise way among beacons and a successive selection strategy in order to pick the most appropriate allocated power for each beacon. Despite its suboptimal nature, simulation results confirm an improvement of localization performance via power allocation.