Improved Localization Algorithms Based on Reference Selection of Linear Least Squares in LOS and NLOS Environments

Linear Least Squares (LLS) estimation is a low complexity but sub-optimum method for estimating the location of a mobile terminal (MT) from some measured distances. It requires selecting one of the known fixed terminals (FTs) as a reference FT for obtaining a linear set of expressions. In this paper, the choosing of the reference FT is investigated. By analyzing the objective function of LLS algorithm, a new method for selecting the reference FT is proposed, which selects the reference FT based on the minimum residual (denoted as MR-RS) rather than the smallest measured distance and improves the localization accuracy significantly in Line of sight (LOS) environment. In Non-line of sight (NLOS) environment, we combine MR-RS algorithm with two other existing algorithms (residual weighting algorithm and three-stage algorithm) to form new algorithms, which also improve the localization accuracy comparing with the two algorithms. Moreover, the time complexity of the proposed algorithms is analyzed. Simulation results show that the proposed methods are always better than the existing methods for arbitrary geometry position of the MT and the LOS/NLOS conditions.