DV-Hop algorithm produces errors in location estimations due to inaccurate hop size. We propose a novel localization scheme based on DV-Hop to improve positioning accuracy with least error hop sizes of anchors and average hop sizes of unknowns. The least error hop size of an anchor minimizes its location error, but it may be far small or large. To cope with this inconsistent hop size, each unknown node calculates its average hop size with hop sizes from anchors. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the DV-Hop algorithm in location estimations.

Localization is an important problem for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). The localization method can be categorized as range-free or range-based schemes. Since sensor nodes are usually cheap and small, the range-based schemes that require range measurement unit are unsuitable in WSN. The DV-hop algorithm is one of the range-free localization algorithms in which average hop-distance and hop counts are used for range estimation. But it requires heavy communication cost if the number of nodes increases in the network. Therefore, we propose a simple algorithm to reduce the communication cost and its performance is verified via computer simulations.

In this paper, we propose a new localization algorithm and improve the DV-Hop algorithm by using a differential error correction scheme that is designed to reduce the location error accumulated over multiple hops. This scheme needs no additional hardware support and can be implemented in a distributed way. The proposed method can improve location accuracy without increasing communication traffic and computing complexity. Simulation results show the performance of the proposed algorithm is superior to that of the DV-Hop algorithm.