A Novel Hybrid RSS and TOA Positioning Algorithm for Multi-Objective Cooperative Wireless Sensor Networks

Due to the significance of positioning in complicated electromagnetic environment of its variety of applications, wireless localization techniques have attracted significant research interests with the trends moving toward boosting the capabilities of multi-objective cooperative networks. This paper addresses the problem of locating multiple targets in 3-D cooperative wireless sensor network. A novel hybrid received signal strength (RSS) and time-of-arrival (TOA) positioning scheme is proposed. Employing RSS and TOA measurements, four valuable expressions are drawn. The TOA and RSS technologies are combined with path loss difference variable being introduced. Based on the weighted least squares criterion, the rough solutions of multiple targets positions are derived. Finally, the locations of obtained targets are optimized by cooperative wireless communication between the target and another target. The location accuracy of the proposed estimation algorithm is analyzed and compared with the conventional RSS and TOA estimation algorithms through simulation experiments. The simulation result demonstrates that the proposed hybrid RSS and TOA localization algorithm for multi-objective cooperative wireless networks outperforms traditional approaches.