Density-aware hop-count localization (DHL) algorithm in unevenly distributed wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Localization of wireless micro-sensors which are non-uniformly scattered over a region is a challenging problem. Solutions relying on simple inter-node ranging and then summing up ranges between a node and reference nodes do not necessarily provide reliable position estimation. In view of this, a novel multi-hop localization scheme that incorporates density and path-length awareness is proposed for non-uniformly distributed wireless sensor networks. The principal objective of this work is to develop a robust hop-count based localization algorithm in wireless sensor networks with non-uniform node distribution. Also, we seek to reduce errors in position estimation introduced by long propagation path. In the proposed Density-aware Hop-count Localization (DHL) algorithm, range ratio is used to estimate single-hop progressed distance based on the surrounding density of a node. In addition, a a??Confidence Levela?? is associated with each estimated distance such that only distances with high confidence are used in triangulation.