abstract: In many applications, measured sensor data is meaningful only when the location of sensors is accurately known. Therefore, the localization accuracy is crucial. In this dissertation, both location estimation and location detection problems are considered. In location estimation problems, sensor nodes at known locations, called anchors, transmit signals to sensor nodes at unknown locations, called nodes, and use these transmissions to estimate the location of the nodes. Specifically, the location estimation in the presence of fading channels using time of arrival (TOA) measurements with narrowband communication signals is considered. Meanwhile, the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for localization error under different assumptions is derived. Also, maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) under these assumptions are derived. In large WSNs, distributed location estimation algorithms are more efficient than centralized algorithms. A sequential localization scheme, which is one of distributed location estimation algorithms, is considered. Also, different localization methods, such as TOA, received signal strength (RSS), time difference of arrival (TDOA), direction of arrival (DOA), and large aperture array (LAA) are compared under different signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. Simulation results show that DOA is the preferred scheme at the low SNR regime and the LAA localization algorithm provides better performance for network discovery at high SNRs. Meanwhile, the CRLB for the localization error using the TOA method is also derived. A distributed location detection scheme, which allows each anchor to make a decision as to whether a node is active or not is proposed. Once an anchor makes a decision, a bit is transmitted to a fusion center (FC). The fusion center combines all the decisions and uses a design parameter $K$ to make the final decision. Three scenarios are considered in this dissertation. Firstly, location detection at a known location is considered. Secondly, detecting a node in a known region is considered. Thirdly, location detection in the presence of fading is considered. The optimal thresholds are derived and the total probability of false alarm and detection under different scenarios are derived. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2016

This study focused on using magnetic sensors for localization and identification of targets with a wireless sensor network (WSN). A wireless sensor network with MICAz motes was set up utilizing a centralized tree-based system. The MTS310, which is equipped with a 2-axis magnetic sensor was used as the sensor board on MICAz motes. The use of magnetic sensors in wireless sensor networks is a topic that has gained limited attention in comparison to that of other sensors. Research has generally focused on the detection of large ferromagnetic targets (e.g., cars and airplanes). Moreover, the changes in the magnetic field intensity measured by the sensor have been used to obtain simple information, such as target direction or whether or not the target has passed a certain point. This work aims at understanding the sensing limitations of magnetic sensors by considering small-scale targets moving within a 30 cm radius. Four heavy iron bars were used as test targets in this study. Target detection, identification and sequential localization were accomplished using the Minimum Euclidean Distance (MED) method. The results show the accuracy of this method for this job. Different forms of sensor sensing region discretization were considered. Target identification was done on the boundaries of sensing regions. Different gateways were selected as entrance point for identification point and the results of them were compared with each other. An online ILS system was implemented and continuous movements of the ferromagnetic objects were monitored. The undesirable factors which affect the measurements were discussed and techniques to reduce or eliminate faulty measurements are presented. A magnetic sensor orientation detector and set/reset strap have been designed and fabricated. Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) algorithm was proposed for multiple sensors multiple target case in ILS systems as a future work. This study can then be used to design energy-efficient, intelligent magnetic sensor networks