Organizing a Global Coordinate System from Local Information on an Ad Hoc Sensor Network

Abstract. We demonstrate that it is possible to achieve accurate localization and tracking of a target in a randomly placed wireless sensor network composed of inexpensive components of limited accuracy. The crucial enabler for this is a reasonably accurate local coordinate system aligned with the global coordinates. We present an algorithm for creating such a coordinate system without the use of global control, globally accessible beacon signals, or accurate estimates of inter-sensor distances. The coordinate system is robust and automatically adapts to the failure or addition of sensors. Extensive theoretical analysis and simulation results are presented. Two key theoretical results are: there is a critical minimum average neighborhood size of 15 for good accuracy and there is a fundamental limit on the resolution of any coordinate system determined strictly from local communication. Our simulation results show that we can achieve position accuracy to within 20% of the radio range ev...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: IPSN
• Authors: Radhika Nagpal, Howard E. Shrobe, Jonathan Bachrach
• Keywords: Accurate Local Coordinate, Coordinate System, Inter-sensor Distance, IPSN 2003, Sensor Networks