Online Calibration of Path Loss Exponent in Wireless Sensor Networks

— The path loss exponent (PLE) is a parameter indicating the rate at which the received signal strength (RSS) decreases with distance, and its value depends on the specific propagation environment. Path loss exponent estimation plays an important role in distance-based wireless sensor network localization, where distance is estimated from the RSS measurements. Path loss exponent estimation is also useful for other purposes like sensor network dimensioning. Existing techniques on PLE estimation rely on both RSS measurements and distance measurements in the same environment to calibrate the PLE. However distance measurements can be difficult and expensive to obtain in some environments. In this paper we propose a novel technique for online calibration of the path loss exponent in wireless sensor networks without using distance measurements. The major contribution of this paper is to demonstrate that it is possible to estimate the PLE using only power measurements and the geometric co...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: GLOBECOM
• Authors: Guoqiang Mao, Brian D. O. Anderson, Baris Fidan
• Keywords: GLOBECOM 2006, Path Loss Exponent, Sensor Network, Telecommunications , Wireless Sensor Network