Localization in ad hoc wireless sensor networks refers to the problem of estimating the position of nodes with sensing capabilities that form communication networks without depending on any external infrastructure. Typically, these networks have to be self-sufficient and contain a large number of nodes, from which only a small fraction, or none, are aware of their position. The present work offers a survey of the most successful centralized and distributed solutions to the problem of localization in ad hoc networks, and suggests a framework for classifying the various formulations of the localization problem in ad hoc wireless networks and a framework for testing the available algorithms in various network settings.

Localization in ad hoc wireless sensor networks refers to the problem of estimating the position of nodes with sensing capabilities that form communication networks without depending on any external infrastructure. Typically, these networks have to be self-sufficient and contain a large number of nodes, from which only a small fraction, or none, are aware of their position. The present work offers a survey of the most successful centralized and distributed solutions to the problem of localization in ad hoc networks, and suggests a framework for classifying the various formulations of the localization problem in ad hoc wireless networks and a framework for testing the available algorithms in various network settings.