A genetic algorithm for the minimum cost localization problem in wireless sensor networks

Localization is a paramount concern in wireless sensor networks. Beacon nodes, which have their position defined a priori, might be used in the process, serving as references to find the position of other nodes. Many studies focused on finding the location of as many nodes as possible, given a set of beacons and distance measurements. In this work, we determine the set of beacon nodes in order to localize all nodes in the network. This can reduce the overall cost involved in the network localization process, i.e., reducing the number of nodes in a WSN with GSP. We present a new approach to this problem using Genetic Algorithms. Our simulations results show the efficiency of the proposed approach, which has results up to 50% better than the best greedy algorithm found in the literature.