Improving the accuracy of cell-based positioning for wireless networks

One fundamental issue for location-based services and applications is solving the location-sensing problem, i.e., determining where a given node is physically located in a network. In a previous paper, we have presented a location-sensing method, called the cell-based positioning method, and its positioning accuracy for the wireless networks with a hexagonal structure and mesh structure. Unfortunately, in real situations, a wireless network may not have a hexagonal or mesh structure. Thus, in this paper we consider networks with irregular structures and present an algorithm to determine the positioning accuracy of the cell-based method in such networks. In addition, we use the simulated annealing (SA) method to determine the locations and transmission ranges of base stations in order to achieve the best possible positioning accuracy. Simulation results show that the accuracy can be improved up to 30% by the SA method. The results are useful for deploying a wireless network for location-based applications. 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.