Location of Moving Targets in Substation Non-Line-of-Sight Environment

Sensors (Basel). 2019 Dec 3;19(23):5321. doi: 10.3390/s19235321.

Abstract

In substations, a localization system based on a wireless sensor network (WSN) is a challenge, because the propagation of the measured signal could be blocked by various devices. In other words, non-line-of-sight (NLOS) propagation, where the signal propagation path is occluded, will affect measurement accuracy. A novel localization method based on a two-step weighted least squares and a probability distribution function is proposed to reduce the influence of NLOS error on the localization result. In this method, the initial multi-group localization result is obtained by the two-step weight weighted least-squares method, and the probability distribution function of the target is constructed by using the initial localization results, which can effectively reduce the influence of the NLOS error on the localization result. The simulation and test results show that the proposed method can keep the coordinate error within 30 cm in the substation. Compared with the localization result of two-step weighted least-squares (TSWLS) method, the average localization error is reduced by more than 1 m. Compared with the other two similar algorithms, the localization accuracy is improved by more than 50%. The tested results show that the localization performance of the method is robustness in the NLOS environment of the substation. While ensuring stability, the proposed algorithm is less efficient than some existing ones. However, under the calculation conditions of ordinary computers, the average single-point calculation time is less than 0.1 s, which can meet the needs of applications in substations.

Keywords: moving target; non-line-of-sight (NLOS); probability distribution; substation; wireless sensor network (WSN).