Energy-Efficient Localization and Tracking of Mobile Devices in Wireless Sensor Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces eLOT, an energy-efficient localization and tracking system for wireless sensor networks that uses low-cost hardware and network coordination to improve accuracy and prolong device lifespan.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel energy-efficient localization and tracking system, eLOT, with a network-level scheme to reduce collision and interference, enhancing accuracy and energy savings.

Findings

eLOT achieves high localization accuracy

Significant energy savings demonstrated

Effective collision and interference management

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are effective for locating and tracking people and objects in various industrial environments. Since energy consumption is critical to prolonging the lifespan of WSNs, we propose an energy-efficient LOcalization and Tracking} (eLOT) system, using low-cost and portable hardware to enable highly accurate tracking of targets. Various fingerprint-based approaches for localization and tracking are implemented in eLOT. In order to achieve high energy efficiency, a network-level scheme coordinating collision and interference is proposed. On the other hand, based on the location information, mobile devices in eLOT can quickly associate with the specific channel in a given area, while saving energy through avoiding unnecessary transmission. Finally, a platform based on TI CC2530 and the Linux operating system is built to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme in terms of localization accuracy and energy efficiency.