A Comparison of Distributed Range Free Localization Algorithms in Wireless Sensor Networks

Background/Objective: In most of the applications of WSN from traffic monitoring to military applications via surveillance location of the node is the prime concern. Various localization algorithms are there for the position estimation but their capabilities are varying from one another in the context of the deployment mode, accuracy in location determination and complexity. Hence this paper focuses on the comparative analysis of various range free localization algorithms under distributed environment. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Algorithms such as APIT, DV-Hop, MDS-MAP, Centroid, Grid Scan, Bounding Box and Amorphous are tested in MATLAB under various parameters and results are then compared. Findings: Main parameter for the comparison is the localization error. Simulation results emphasis on the algorithms suitability with respect to the parameters in hand. From the results it is evident that with the increase of the number of nodes the localization error value decreases and also by increasing the range value the same impact is seen on the error value. MDS-MAP is the best approach of localization in both of the scenarios either by increasing the node amount or by increasing the range value.