Three-Dimensional Distance-Error-Correction-Based Hop Localization Algorithm for IoT Devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) is envisioned as a network of various wireless sensor nodes communicating with each other to offer state-of-the-art solutions to real-time problems. These networks of wireless sensors monitor the physical environment and report the collected data to the base station, allowing for smarter decisions. Localization in wireless sensor networks is to localize a sensor node in a two-dimensional plane. However, in some application areas, such as various surveillances, underwater monitoring systems, and various environmental monitoring applications, wireless sensors are deployed in a three-dimensional plane. Recently, localization-based applications have emerged as one of the most promising services related to IoT. In this paper, we propose a novel distributed range-free algorithm for node localization in wireless sensor networks. The proposed three-dimensional hop localization algorithm is based on the distance error correction factor. In this algorithm, the error decreases with the localization process. The distance correction factor is used at various stages of the localization process, which ultimately mitigates the error. We simulated the proposed algorithm using MATLAB and verified the accuracy of the algorithm. The simulation results are compared with some of the well-known existing algorithms in the literature. The results show that the proposed three-dimensional error-correction-based algorithm performs better than existing algorithms.