An inquiry into the metrics for evaluation of localization algorithms in wireless ad hoc and sensor networks
Author
Aksu, Hidayet
Advisor
Körpeoğlu, İbrahim
Date
2008Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Show full item recordAbstract
In ad-hoc and sensor networks, the location of a sensor node making an observation
is a vital piece of information to allow accurate data analysis. GPS is an
established technology to enable precise position information. Yet, resource constraints
and size issues prohibit its use in small sensor nodes that are designed to
be cost efficient. Instead, most positions are estimated by a number of algorithms.
Such estimates, inevitably introduce errors in the information collected from the
field, and it is very important to determine the error in cases where they lead
to inaccurate data analysis. After all, many components of the application rely
on the reported locations including decision making processes. It is, therefore,
vital to understand the impact of errors from the applications’ point of view. To
date, the focus on location estimation was on individual accuracy of each sensor’s
position in isolation to the complete network. In this thesis, we point out the
problems with such an approach that does not consider the complete network
topology and the relative positions of nodes in comparison to each other. We
then describe the existing metrics, which are used in the literature, and also propose
some novel metrics that can be used in this area of research. Furthermore,
we run simulations to understand the behavior of the existing and proposed metrics.
After having discussed the simulation results, we suggest a metric selection
methodology that can be used for wireless sensor network applications.