Performance analysis of cooperative and range based localization algorithms for Zigbee and 802.15.4a Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper deals with the effect of mesh and cluster-tree topologies (that are defined in 802.15.4/Zigbee or 802.15.4a standards) in the performance of cooperative and range-based localization algorithms. In this type of localization at least three reference or anchor nodes within range are needed for location estimation (two dimensions). Therefore the successful localization depends on the connectivity between nodes. Mesh topology allows complex networks because the connectivity between nodes is high, thus this is an advantage for range-based localization. But the mesh structure is energy-consuming. On the other hand, cluster-tree topology simplifies routing and allows energy saving. But in cluster-tree topology the connectivity between nodes is reduced to parent-children relationships. It affects to the range-based localization because of nodes can not do ranging with all nodes within range. In order to reach a trade-off between energy saving and high connectivity, in this paper we propose two new solutions for the localization in a cluster-tree Wireless Sensor Network.