The impacts of mobility models on DV-hop based localization in Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks

Localization is a fundamental issue in Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks (MWSNs). Several localization methods have been proposed, but the main idea in them was that some static anchor nodes together with statically deployed unknown nodes transmit beacons with their coordinates in order to help unknown nodes to localize themselves. Compared with static networks, although mobility would appear to make localization more difficult due to uncertainty of its nodes positions, it may bring challenges to sensor networks. In this paper, anchor nodes travel in three mobility models, i.e., Random Waypoint (RWP), Random Direction (RD) and Reference Point Group Mobility (RPGM). Mobile anchor nodes (MANs) and unknown nodes constitute an MWSN. We aim to quantify the influences of mobility of the anchor nodes in an MWSN on the DV-hop localization algorithm. We summarize mobility models from which three mobility models are chosen for studying, and discuss some evaluation criteria of localization algorithms. Finally, we present experimental results and analyze effects by comparing results from simulations in static environments with those in mobile environments. 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.