Time synchronization and ranging under unknown positions and velocities

The process to achieve time synchronization and ranging for a network of mobile nodes is raising a concern among researchers, and hence a variety of joint time synchronization and ranging algorithms have been proposed in recent years. However, few of them handle the case of all-node motion under unknown positions and velocities. This study addresses the problem of determining ranging and time synchronization for a group of nodes moving within a local area. First, we examined several models of clock discrepancy and synchronous two-way ranging. Based upon these models, we present a solution for time synchronization with known positions and velocities. Next, we propose a functional model that jointly estimates the clock skew, clock offset, and time of flight in the absence of a priori knowledge for a pair of mobile nodes. Then, we extend this model to a network-wide time synchronization scheme by way of a global least square estimator. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of our model compared to the existing algorithms, and we provide some applicable scenarios as well. Finally, we show that the simulation results verify the validity of our analysis.