Distributed-weighted multidimensional scaling for hybrid Peer-to-Peer localization

This paper presents a hybrid localization algorithm for a Peer-to-Peer (P2P)-Positioning scenario, where “peers” are devices equipped with both a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver and a wireless communications interface. Through their GNSS receiver, peers obtain pseudorange estimates from satellites while they use their wireless interface both to communicate with each other and to obtain terrestrial range estimates. The proposed algorithm is an extended version of the distributed-weighted multidimensional scaling (dwMDS) algorithm to be compatible with the hybrid P2P scenario where unknown peers infer their own positions by fusing both GNSS pseudorange and terrestrial range estimates. Simulation results show that the proposed hybrid dwMDS (hdwMDS) algorithm out-performs the cooperative version of the least squares algorithm. Moreover, they show the related benefits in term of positioning performance in a cooperative scenario in comparison to a non cooperative one based on GNSS-only positioning.