Centralized underwater node localization using range based multilateral accumulation method (RBMAM)

In large-scale underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs), many methods are proposed to localize underwater nodes for distributed networks. Compared to distributed networks, there are many problems such as large number of nodes, limited communication distances and incapability to cover full networks in centralized networks. Usually we use surface gateway node travelling in a fixed trajectory and simultaneously collecting underwater node information to localize node positions individually. While this method has low efficiency and high-complex operations, which is unsuitable for large-scale underwater node localization. Because of the limited underwater bandwidth, multipath interference and high propagation channels, the methods widely used in wireless localization cannot be directly used underwater. To deal with the typical problems in centralized underwater networks, this paper proposes a range based multilateral accumulation method (RBMAM). The method is designed for large-scale, high-efficiency and high precision underwater networks. We compared the performance with area localization scheme (ALS), which is widely used in wireless localization, and least square method (LSM). Simulation and actual experiment with four nodes are also performed. The results prove that this method has equal localization precision to LSM and high-efficiency, it is the ideal method for large-scale UWSN localization.