3D Underwater Sensor Network Localization

TLDR

The study proposes a purely distributed bilateration localization scheme for 3D underwater sensor networks, called underwater sensor positioning (USP). The authors transform the 3D USN localization problem into a 2D problem using sensor depth and a simple projection, then design a purely distributed bilateration scheme (USP) based on this projection. They prove that a nondegenerative projection preserves localizability and that all geometric k‑lateration methods are equivalent, and simulations show that USP improves localization over existing 3D methods while offering low storage, low computation, balanced communication, and robustness to underwater errors.

Abstract

We transform the 3D underwater sensor network (USN) localization problem into its 2D counterpart by employing sensor depth information and a simple projection technique. We first prove that a nondegenerative projection preserves network localizability. We then prove that given a network and a constant k, all of the geometric k-lateration localization methods are equivalent. Based on these results, we design a purely distributed bilateration localization scheme for 3D USNs termed as underwater sensor positioning (USP). Through extensive simulations, we show that USP has the following nice features: (1) improved localization capabilities over existing 3D methods, (2) low storage and computation requirements, (3) predictable and balanced communication overhead, and (4) robustness to errors from the underwater environment.