Localization in non-localizable sensor and ad-hoc networks: A Localizability-aided approach

Localization is an enabling technique for many sensor and ad-hoc network applications. Real-world deployments demonstrate that, in practice, a network is not always entirely localizable, leaving a certain number of theoretically non-localizable nodes. Previous studies mainly focus on how to tune network settings to make a network localizable; however, they are considered to be coarse-grained, since they equally deal with localizable and non-localizable nodes. Ignoring localizability induces unnecessary adjustments and accompanying costs. In this study, we propose a fine-grained approach, Localizability-aided Localization (LAL), which basically consists of three phases: node localizability testing, component tree construction, and network adjustment. LAL triggers a single round adjustment, after which some popular localization methods can be successfully carried out. Being aware of node localizability, all adjustments made by LAL are purposefully selected. Simulation results show that LAL effectively guides the adjustment.