Distance geometry and its applications via semidefinite programming

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Suppose we have a wireless network of mobile sensors, where any two sensors can communicate with each other only if they are within a certain range. These sensors, for example, could be attached to some endangered animals to help track their movement. If the location of each sensor is known, then computing the inter-sensor distances of this network is a trivial problem. However, the inverse problem of determining the location of each sensor knowing only some of their inter-sensor distances is a hard problem. This information on the inter-sensor distances is obtained via the communication links between the sensors. Solving this problem enables us to track the movement of these sensors in situations where GPS is either unavailable or too expensive.