LDB: Localization with Directional Beacons for Sparse 3D Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

In this paper, we propose a novel distributed localization scheme LDB, a 3D localization scheme with directional beacons for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks (UWA-SNs). LDB localizes sensor nodes using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) as a mobile beacon sender. Mounted with a directional transceiver which creates conical shaped directional acoustic beam, the AUV patrols over the 3D deployment volume with predefined trajectory sending beacons with constant interval towards the sensor nodes. By listening two or more beacons sent from the AUV, the nodes can localize themselves silently. Through theoretical analysis, we provide the upper bound of the estimation error of the scheme. We also evaluate the scheme by simulations and the results show that our scheme can achieve a high localization accuracy, even in sparse networks.