# An Effective Single-Station Cooperative Node Localization Technique Using Multipath Spatiotemporal Information

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a cost-effective method for localizing nodes in radio frequency sensor networks using a single station and multipath signals.

## Contribution

A novel single-station localization technique using dual-antenna direction finding and spatiotemporal multipath analysis is proposed.

## Key findings

- The method uses two antennas and virtual stations derived from multipath components for localization.
- Positioning accuracy of less than 0.1 meters is achieved in simulations and experiments.

## Abstract

Precise cooperative node localization is essential for the application of multifunctional integrated radio frequency (RF) sensor networks in military and civilian domains. Most geometric localization methods commonly rely on observation data from multiple receiving nodes or anchor points with known positions and synchronized clocks, producing complex system architectures and high construction costs. To address this, our paper proposes an effective single-station cooperative node localization technique, where the observation station only requires two antennas for operation. Leveraging prior knowledge of the geometry of surrounding structures, multiple virtual stations (VSs) are constructed by mining the spatiotemporal information contained in the multipath components (MPCs) to realize target positioning. The proposed method consists of two steps. In the first step, an unambiguous dual-antenna direction-finding algorithm is designed to extract the spatial information of MPCs and construct VSs, allowing a preliminary estimate of the source position (SP). In the second step, the path delays are extracted via matched filtering, while the spatiotemporal information is correlated based on the energy distribution for a more precise SP estimation. Simulations and experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm achieves high-precision single-station localization for a collaborative node, with positioning accuracy typically within 0.1 m.