An adaptive anchor navigation algorithm for localization in MANET

Automatic anchor navigation for sensor node localization in mobile networks is a challenging task. Previous work on anchor navigation has mostly concentrated on static node localization. This paper proposes an adaptive anchor navigation algorithm to localize sensor nodes in a mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET). The novelty of the proposed algorithm lies in fact that an anchor chooses an optimal position at every instant. This adaptive position selection of the anchor ensures low energy consumption. On the other hand, an optimal path mechanism proposed herein constrains the anchor to traverse in a region densely populated with nodes. This ensures that the path traversed by the anchors is minimal. In order to localize the nodes, the ratio of grid benefit to distance (GBD) within the probable region of anchor is first computed. Subsequently, an optimality criterion is used to decide the next anchor location. Localization is then performed using geometric methods. Experimental results on node localization in a mobile network scenario indicate a reasonable performance improvement when compared to conventional methods.