Background:
Effective 3D-localization in mobile underwater sensor networks is still an
active research topic. Due to the sparse characteristic of underwater sensor networks, AUVs (Autonomous
Underwater Vehicles) with precise positioning abilities will benefit cooperative localization.
It has important significance to study accurate localization methods.
Methods:
In this paper, a cooperative and distributed 3D-localization algorithm for sparse underwater
sensor networks is proposed. The proposed algorithm combines with the advantages of both recursive
location estimation of reference nodes and the outstanding self-positioning ability of mobile
AUV. Moreover, our design utilizes MMSE (Minimum Mean Squared Error) based recursive location
estimation method in 2D horizontal plane projected from 3D region and then revises positions
of un-localized sensor nodes through multiple measurements of Time of Arrival (ToA) with mobile
AUVs.
Results:
Simulation results verify that the proposed cooperative 3D-localization scheme can improve
performance in terms of localization coverage ratio, average localization error and localization
confidence level.
Conclusion:
The research can improve localization accuracy and coverage ratio for whole underwater
sensor networks.
