Optimal trajectory determination of a single moving beacon for efficient localization in MANET

An ad-hoc network of small robots (sensor nodes) adjusting their position to establish network connectivity would be able to provide a communication in an urban battlefield environment. A sensor node would be capable of moving to a particular position to establish network connectivity, provided it knows its current position, position of other sensor nodes and the radio propagation characteristics of the sensor area. Due to the nature of the network it is expensive to equip all the sensor nodes with position based system such as GPS. Furthermore, even if every node is equipped with a GPS, in an urban environment they may not obtain the GPS lock. A common solution is to equip relatively few nodes with expensive positioning systems and perform localization using the same.;In this thesis, a variable radius pseudo formation control based trajectory algorithm to determine the optimal trajectory and the transmission radius of a moving beacon used in localization of the sensor nodes in real time is presented. The trajectory and the radius of transmission of the GPS based position information of the moving beacon influences the accuracy of localization, and the power consumed by the beacon to localize. Localization accuracy and reduction in the number of position information messages can be achieved in real time by determining the optimal position and transmission radius from where the beacon should transmit its next position information. This will decrease the time required to localize, and power consumed by the beacon.