A Framework for Node and Event Localization in Wireless Networks
Sextant is a general framework for discovering the location of nodes and events in wireless networks. Sextant enables nodes without specialized hardware, such as GPS, to efficiently discover their approximate locations. Further, given a sensor network where each node can sense events in its immediate vicinity, Sextant pinpoints the location of events with high fidelity.
Cheap, accurate and energy-efficient localization is critical in many settings. Node and event localization can be used to pinpoint the location of cellphone users and to determine the location of events (say, chemical spills, biological contaminants, and explosions) in a sensor network, among other uses. Sextant's efficiency and fidelity obviates the need for specialized hardware, reducing the costs of endpoints. It works with systems where the majority of nodes start out in an initially unknown configuration, such as aerially dispersed sensors.