A novel localization algorithm for large scale wireless sensor networks

Localization has been a major challenge in wireless sensor networks. The data reported from a sensor is only useful when the position of that sensor is found. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm that accurately localizes sensors while minimizing their power consumption and memory requirements. The proposed algorithm splits the task of localization between sensor nodes and the base station (i.e., sink) and does not necessitate the presence of many anchor nodes (nodes with preconfigured positions). It recommends placing the anchors in a circle or a semi-circle around the perimeter of the WSN. Not only this placement strategy leads to more accurate localization, but it is also very convenient for WSNs used for environment monitoring, military surveillance, or tracking applications. The proposed approach can also be tailored to route the sensed data to the base station which alleviates the sensors from the overhead incurred in establishing routes to the base station. The performance of the proposed approach was evaluated and compared to other peer algorithms using the network simulator (NS-2). Results show that significant enhancement is obtained with the proposed algorithm when measuring metrics such as energy and localization error while varying other simulation parameters such as the number of sensors and the area size.