Two-stage scheme for geolocation using mobile sensor networks with optimal formations

Recent advancements in low power micro sensors and wireless network technology have enabled a host of new sensor network applications. One such application is collaborative geolocation using time difference of arrival measurements from a wireless sensor network consisting of mobile ground or airborne sensor nodes. This paper introduces a two-stage geolocation scheme that begins in an optimal bearing estimate formation and then reconfigures to a formation that yields an optimal position estimate. Using optimal sensor formations for bearing and position estimates, enables a network to obtain an optimal estimate of a target emitter´s position. Through simulation the performance of such a scheme is analyzed and compared to that of a random fixed array. Its implementation on an airborne quadrotor network is also explored and is shown to be viable despite the network´s unsteady node station keeping.