SGER: Small Antennas for Angle of Arrival Determination and Accurate Localization

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ECCS-0742054Stefano Basagni, Northeastern UniversityThis research focuses on exploring solutions that will allow small, energy-constrained wireless sensor nodes to self-localize, i.e., to compute their coordinates with respect to an absolute or relative positioning system. Typical wireless sensor networks (WSNs) applications that require accurate localization include disaster recovery and independent assisted living applications. Nodal location awareness is clearly necessary because a sensed event should be reported along with where it happened.Since for the scenario of many WSNs application GPS is not a viable choice, localization protocols have been proposed that provide nodal positions. In particular, it has been observed that the concurrent deployment of inter-nodal range and the angle of arrival (AoA) of the radio signal can be effectively used for localizing nodes with remarkable accuracy. While techniques for measuring the inter-nodal range have been proposed that achieve accurate estimation, determining the AoA is still widely uncharted territory in WSNs. This research will investigate the design of a physically and electrically small, low-power multiple element antenna array that can provide unambiguous AoA for RF signals.Intellectual Merit: WSN are an important and growing area, with countless applications most of which relay on accurate localization. Determining accurate AoA with RF techniques is still largely unexplored for WSNs. This research intends to provide results from multiple points of view: From antenna design, to extensive simulations to real-hardware experimentation.Broader Impact: Providing sensor nodes with the ability to self-localize without relying on infrastructure will improve the response in disaster recovery and in assisted living applications. The WSN community will also benefit by the investigation proposed here. A graduate student will be supported by this effort.