A Mobile Beacon Based Localization Approach for Wireless Sensor Network Applications

In this paper, a novel localization approach based on the use of a mobile beacon is proposed for wireless sensor networks. The localization system consists of a mobile beacon and beacon receiving modules on each sensor node for measuring distance. The localization is based on the application of multidimensional scaling technique and a local map registration approach. The approach is designed to operate without requiring path planning for the mobile beacon. It estimates the relative coordinates of the sensor nodes, and does not require the location information of the mobile beacon, making them attractive for applications where access to GPS signals is not available. Finally, computer simulations are used to evaluate the localization performance of the proposed approaches under different scenarios.