Optical Localization Techniques for Micro-Sensor Network Devices

In this project, we introduce novel free-space-optical (FSO) components and localization algorithms to improve the localization in MANETs to very large scales. We propose to leverage directionality of FSO communications in a cross-layer manner, to construct a virtual coordinate system, despite sparse interconnectivity of the network. A crucial benefit of FSO components is the “directional” communication capability. FSO directionality provides a way of estimating orientation of communication taking place with a neighbor. Given this orientation in addition to range estimations, it becomes possible to localize nodes of a network as long as it is connected, as only one localized neighbor node is needed. In comparison to traditional triangulation methods requiring at least three localized neighbors, this method of using both range and orientation information simultaneously achieves localization a lot more efficiently with the cost of requiring “orientation” information. We propose to use a novel 3-D spherical “optical antenna” to offer rapid, automatic discovery and tracking of line-of-sight (LOS).