Component based localization in sparse wireless ad hoc and sensor networks

Localization is crucial for wireless ad hoc and sensor networks. As the distance-measurement ranges are often less than that of the communication range for many ranging systems, most communication-dense wireless networks are often localization-sparse. Consequently, most existing algorithms fail to provide accurate localization supports. In order to address this issue, by introducing a concept of component , we propose to group nodes into components, so that nodes are able to better share their ranging and anchor knowledge. This design, CALL, relaxes two essential restrictions in localization: node ordering and anchor distribution. We evaluate the effectiveness of CALL through extensive simulations. The results show that CALL locates 80% nodes in a network with average degree 7.5 and 5% percent anchors, which outperforms the state of the art design Sweeps about 20%.