Techniques to compensate propagation impairments for greater accuracy in localization for sensors in indoor environments.

Position location estimation in sensor networks is a valuable supplement since it supports the deployment of location-based services. Sensor networks have changing conditions in the environment due to propagation issues, noise and placement of sensors, which represent challenges that position location algorithms must deal with. Accuracy of the location estimation technique is relevant since it allows minimizing positioning error. In indoor environments, propagation issues such as multipath signals, affect adversely the precision of the positioning algorithm. Also, the use of parameters such as time of arrival has a trade-off between the small distances that the signals traverse and the precision of the hardware used to capture such measurements. In this paper, we use received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to estimate the coordinates of individual sensors in an area of study. The RSSI parameter is measured and processed by a set of reference nodes installed in the area. We show that performance of the location estimation algorithm needs additional techniques to obtain improved accuracy rate. We develop additional techniques based on the use of polynomial interpolation and spline functions to balance propagation issues. These techniques help us to implement correcting factors that are used in the propagation model to compensate the RSSI measurements. We use these techniques to show how the positioning error is reduced in the area of study with simulations and measurements using sensors.