An improved DV-hop node localization algorithm based on unbiased estimation for wireless sensor networks

An improved DV-hop localization algorithm based on unbiased estimation is proposed to obtain the unbiased estimation of distance and to reduce the localization error of existing node localization methods based on hop-count for wireless sensor networks. A modified model of the relationship between expected distance and hop count is established through analyzing the hop progress information for different hop counts; Two approaches for the solution of UEDV-hop method are derived, according to whether node communication radiuses are known. Simulation results and comparisons with the DV-hop and the DV-hop (LS) algorithms show that the distance estimated by the UEDV-hop is approximately equal to the expectation distance, and that the estimation error and the localization accuracy of the UEDV-hop are improved significantly. A comparison to the DV-hop with 2500 nodes shows that the distance estimation error of the UEDV-hop is reduced by 9.5%, and the localization accuracy is improved by 55%.