Mobile localization in outdoor environments

Due to the advent of many location based applications, mobile localization in outdoor environments has recently attracted much attention. Many existing localization solutions rely primarily on a hybrid wireless network/dead reckoning (DR) method, as the regular wireless network can hardly estimate a location with satisfactory accuracy in bad channel conditions. However, the DR scheme can involve considerable hardware investments, moreover, it suffers from serious error accumulations in motion measurements of a mobile object. To remedy drawbacks of the hybrid method, we present a novel mobile localization scheme based on the concept of pseudo beacon. The proposed scheme can perform network localization in those areas where traditional wireless networks may not work, and thus, avoids large investments the special hardware cost and error accumulations of DR. Extensive real world GPS experimental results demonstrate the significant superiority of the proposed scheme.