Optimization schemes for wireless sensor network localization

Many applications of wireless sensor networks (WSN) require information about the geographical location of each sensor node. Self-organization and localization capabilities are one of the most important requirements in sensor networks. This paper provides an overview of centralized distance-based algorithms for estimating the positions of nodes in a sensor network. We discuss and compare three approaches: semidefinite programming, simulated annealing and two-phase stochastic optimization-a hybrid scheme that we have proposed. We analyze the properties of all listed methods and report the results of numerical tests. Particular attention is paid to our technique-the two-phase method-that uses a combination of trilateration, and stochastic optimization for performing sensor localization. We describe its performance in the case of centralized and distributed implementations.