A research on wireless sensor networks’ node positioning mechanism based on Narrowband Internet of Things data linking

Abstract

NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things), as a part of new-generation cellular communication technology, leads an innovation in wireless sensor networks. It pushes wireless sensor networks to be applied in more application fields. NB-IoT Release 14 has got the ability of positioning from cellular network service. To solve the positioning problem of new wireless sensor networks based on NB-IoT, instead of static three-point measuring way DV-HOP (distance vector hop), NB-IoT connecting point node is deployed to work as an anchor node that moves among three different places and receives signals from all other unknown nodes in the cluster. Based on the DV-HOP algorithm, in this article a topological structure for new-generation wireless sensor networks is built and the NBIOT-DVHOP mechanism combining the NB-IoT cellular network positioning ability and the DV-HOP algorithm is proposed. According to the simulation on the MATLAB platform, the effectiveness of this mechanism is verified and the deviation rate of each point from the relative position is presented. The deviation rate is related to the communication radius and the numbers of unknown nodes and anchor nodes. The simulation results can support the next step of research in NB-IoT-based wireless sensor networks, especially in data collection and fast positioning of unknown sensor nodes.