> REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) <
Signal Propagation and Distance Estimation in
Wireless Sensor Networks
Patrik Moravek1, Dan Komosny1, Milan Simek1, Mojmir Jelinek1, David Girbau2, Member, IEEE,
Antonio Lazaro2, Member, IEEE
Abstract—Localization algorithms used in wireless sensor
networks can be divided into two groups: range-free and range-
based algorithms. Distance estimation is a basic procedure for the
latter ones since they employ distances for position determination.
Therefore, this paper deals with the investigation of signal
propagation for the purposes of distance estimation. Distances
can be determined from the received signal power; however,
there are several phenomenons, which negatively influence the
measurement of signal power. One of them, the uncertainty in a
radio channel, is discussed in more details. The measurement of
received signal power and the uncertainty in radio channel were
performed. The measurement set-up and results from both indoor
and outdoor are presented and discussed.
Index Terms—Distance estimation, localization, RSS, wireless
sensor networks, uncertainty, measurement.
I. INTRODUCTION
W ITH emerging technology of wireless sensor networks
(WSN), increasing number of possible applications and
several pilot projects currently running, the attention of
researchers is aimed to particular functionalities and
procedures optimization. Besides sensing, data gathering and
aggregation, routing and power management, localization is a
crucial procedure in certain applications. Especially if we
consider random deployment of nodes or a large network with
enormous number of nodes, the initial localization is necessary
for network auto-setting [1].
WSN technologies emerged, like many others, from military
needs. Nowadays, the WSNs penetrate through many civil
fields like medicine, industry, agriculture, environment or
surveillance and security. For example, smart structures with
embedded WSN technologies can actively respond to
earthquakes and make building or other constructions safer;
precision agriculture can reduce costs and environmental
impact by watering and fertilizing the specific area of field
only in case of real need; WSNs deployed for environmental
monitoring of water, air or soil quality will sense data in real
time to find the source of pollution as soon as possible [2].
The knowledge of node position is in many WSN
This work was supported in part by the FRVŠ IS18049001.
Authors affiliation 1: Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech
Republic (corresponding author’s email: moravek@phd.feec.vutbr.cz)
Authors affiliation 2: Rovira I Virgili University, Tarragona, Spain
1
applications crucial requirement to ensure the right function of
the network. The necessary relationship between sensed value
and the location of the data source is an obvious and
fundamental motivation of localization. Every user needs to
know the position of the data origin in the area of interest.
However, there are other possibilities of position knowledge
exploitation. As an additional motivation, sensor position can
be used for an effective scalable geographical routing or
multicast [3]. Assuming dynamic mobile nodes in sensor
network (for example logistic applications), the position is the
value that is transferred as sensed data[4]. These and other
examples (hierarchical aggregation, object tracking, remote
management etc.) make automatic localization key enabling
technology in WSNs.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2
gives a basic overview of localization based on triangulation
principle. Section 3 briefly explains the issues of receive signal
strength (RSS) based localization, especially focuses on RSS
uncertainty. The description of measurement set-up follows in
section 4, which precedes the last part with results and
conclusion.
II. LATERATION
The localization in WSN means generally the process of
position estimation for wireless nodes in the whole network
area or just in a defined part. The result of a localization
process is the knowledge of a real or an absolute position that
a node obtains by employing a certain localization technique.
Localization can be performed for a single node, for example,
when a new node is added to an existing network or for all
nodes at the same time (e.g. network construction or periodic
location estimation in case of moving nodes).
There have been proposed several approaches of
localization (summarized in [5]) differing in their accuracy,
complexity and applicability. Unlike quite complex algorithms
using artificial coordinates (such as Vivaldi algorithm used for
localization simulation in [6] for instance), triangulation is one
of the automatic localization methods, which uses the
geometric properties of a triangle to calculate the node
position. When distances are used for triangulation, the
subcategory is called lateration, when predominantly angles, it
is referred as an angulation.
The lateration method is based on knowledge of reference
points (also called Anchors) position and the distances to
> REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) < 2

them. Then, every unknown node can calculate its own

position with this information. For 2D system, at least three
non-collinear reference points are necessary (see Fig. 1); for
A1
3D system one extra reference point in non-coplanar position A4
has to be added to estimate an elevation.
Assuming that xi, yi, zi represent the coordinates of reference
points in 3D system, x, y, z are unknown coordinates of non-
localized node, di computed distances between non-localized A3
node and the reference point i and M stands for the number of
reference points, the equation for unknown coordinates
calculation is: A2

 x1 − x M y1 − y M z1 − z M 
 x −x y2 − yM z2 − zM  x
2 2 M  y =
 ... ... ...  
  z 
− zM  
Fig. 2: Lateration principle for localization in 2D coordination system with
 x M −1 − x M y M −1 − y M z M −1
four reference nodes in order to improve accuracy of estimation. The hatched
area represents the probable area of node presence when three reference
  points used. The cross-hatched area represents the probable area of node
x1 − x M + y1 − y M + z1 − z M − d 1 + d M
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

  presence after adding the fourth reference node.

− + − + − − +
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
=
x 2 x M y 2 y M z 2 z M d 2 d M 
 ... 
For purposes of lateration, distances between involved
 2
 M −1 − M + M −1 − M + M −1 − M − M −1 + M 
2 2 2 2 2 2 2
x x y y z z d d nodes are required. Three different approaches of distance
estimation have been introduced: direct, time-of-flight (TOL)
It can be generally inferred that the higher number of and signal strength attenuation (called also received signal
equations (reference points), the more accurate localization. strength technique - RSS). Since direct measurement of
Therefore, when possible, more than minimum number of distances runs up against problem of physical movement
reference points is included for position calculation. between two nodes, it is not used in WSN.
The TOL method is based on the known velocity of signal
propagation. The distance is calculated from the measured
time of signal flight between two nodes and the known
velocity. In most cases, velocity of electromagnetic signal is
considered. But on the other hand, there are also applications,
where sound waves are used. For small distances, the time of
A2 flight is very small and high accuracy and precise time
synchronization is required. This fact implies more expensive
A1 d2 components and more complex time management. Therefore,
d1 RSS measurement of distances is often preferred.
RSS measurement is based on the fact that the intensity of
emitted signal decreases with the increasing distance from the
d3 signal source. With a given function of the attenuation in
dependence on a distance, known strength of transmitting
A3 power and measured received power, it is possible to estimate
the distance between the emission source and the receiver.
Fig. 1: Lateration in 2D coordination system with three reference nodes WSN nodes capability of measurement of received signal
(Anchors). strength (RSS) is already covered in the new standard 802.15.4
The Fig 1 depicts the ideal case when the circles (Zigbee) [7] defining the physical and medium access control
representing certain measured power level intersect in one layer of low-cost, low-power devices in unlicensed ISM
point, which is supposed to be the position of unknown node. (Industrial Scientific Medical) band. Among others, the
In fact, majority of measurements determines the area of standard defines RSS indicator called RSSI that is used as a
probable presence of the node. Therefore, to improve the metric for radio status in WSN. The 805.15.4 standard allows
accuracy of localization the fourth reference point is often inexpensive distance estimation without any new special
added to triangulation (see Fig. 2). hardware only with simple RSSI circuit. This fact makes the
RSSI measurement very attractive for WSN users who have to
deal with the localization. Unfortunately, there are several
issues, which complicate the distance estimation using just
RSSI.
> REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) <
III. SIGNAL PROPAGATION IN RADIO CHANNEL
This paper concerns the localization based on signal
strength measurement. Therefore, the brief explanation of
signal propagation in wireless environment is presented.
Signal propagation differs considerably in different
environments such as indoor, outdoor, urban, with obstacles,
free-space, etc. It is affected by many factors such as antenna
high, antenna gain, antenna radiation pattern, transmitter-
receiver distance, reflection, multi-path transmission, non-line-
of-sight, obstructions, vegetation scattering and diffraction,
RSS uncertainty etc. [8]. All these factors have to be
considered when the distance estimation is calculated from the
signal strength measurement.
Several propagation models have been proposed [9]. They
are characterized by different level of complexity considering
more or less phenomenon. Basically, simpler models can be
used when the environment characteristic is close to ideal
conditions. Unfortunately, in most cases it is necessary to
consider specific features of signal propagation in radio
channel.
The power level measured at the receiving node is given by
the sum of all electromagnetic waves reflected from the
ground, walls and other obstacles. The coefficient of reflection
(Fresnel coefficient) depends on the incident angle between
the signal and ground. It also depends significantly on the
polarisation [10].
See Fig. 3, in case 1 the receiver and the transmitter are so
close that only direct signal can be taken into account. In case
2 the influence of ground reflected signal has to be added to
calculations. Case 3 represents the situations when the
received signals are affected by distortion, diffraction,
refraction caused by obstacles between transmitter and
receiver.
1 2 3 4
Fig. 3: Use of propagation model under different conditions. The received
power is a sum of direct signal and the signals reflected from ground and
other obstacles.
The elementary propagation model (free-space Friis model)
takes into account only the direct path. When the signal is
transmitted with the power Pt, the received power Pr is given
by
 λ 
2
Pr = Pt Gr Gt .  (1)
 4πR 
where Gr and Gt is a gain of receiver respectively transmitter
antenna, λ is the wavelength and R is the distance between the
transmitter and receiver.
Equation (1) is applicable only when we can assume just
direct path of the signal and no other reflected waves (such in
the case 1 in Fig. 3). This equation is generally used only for
primary rough estimation of the signal power. It is almost
3
impossible to achieve this conditions, therefore more
reasonable flat earth model with one ground reflection (see
Fig. 3, case 2) is often used.
According to flat earth model, assuming that reflection
coefficient is close to -1, the following equation can express
the received power:
2
 2π h1h2 
2  sin 
( )
2 hh 
Pr = Pt Gr Gt 1 − ρ  1 22  
 R  
λ R2 
2π h1h2 
(2)

 λ R 2 
which is approximately equal to:
( )
2
2 hh 
Pr = Pt Gr Gt 1 − ρ  1 22  (3)
 R 
h1, h2 are antenna heights and ρ stands for link losses.
When the antenna heights are small (h1,h2<<R), the power
decreases as 1/R4, whereas in free-space the power decreases
as 1/R2. Assuming multiple reflections, the path loss power
factor can change [10].
In case that we know the reference power P0 at the distance
d0, the received power Pr at the distance d can be formulated
with the following equation:
 d 
Pr (d ) = P0 − 10n p log  + X (4)
 d0 
np is a path loss exponent (PLE) and X (dBm) referrers to
Gaussian random variable with log-normal distribution [11].
Path loss exponent np covers deterministic parameters of the
environment such as high of the antennas, antennas pattern,
reflections or multi-path signal propagation, which causes
significant constructive or destructive summation of signals at
the receiving antenna. This variable np can be calculated or
simulated from the exploration of the path link and several
previous measurements. Generally, it is estimated from the
selected propagation model and the type of particular
environment. Obviously, this estimation and simplification
decreases the accuracy of subsequent calculations.
Unlike the path loss exponent, which can be estimated quite
precisely, variable X, which stands for RSS uncertainty in (4),
has only stochastic character. It can not be calculated or
estimated in advance, it is time unstable value. This implies the
following problem: It is impossible or very unlikely to estimate
the distance between the transmitter and the receiver with high
accuracy from one measurement of received signal strength.
To eliminate or minimize uncertainty of measurement of RSS,
statistical methods have to be employed. It implies the
necessity of dataset for statistical processing. It means that
RSS measurement has to be performed several times.
However, on the other hand, to increase the accuracy of
estimation, multiple measurements require more energy
necessary for the localization process based on RSS [12].
A. RSS uncertainty
The power of received signal is influenced by several
factors with deterministic and stochastic characteristic. The
> REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) <
deterministic ones can be predicted, estimated and their
influence included in the distance calculation. These factors
comprise multipath propagation, all different ways of signal
reflected from static objects with time stable characteristic, all
signals scattered on edges of objects or leaves of trees, all
influences, which can be determined and measured in advance.
Unlike these time stable factors, stochastic ones change in the
time and cannot be estimated before the measurement.
Stochastic phenomenon affects RSS measurement and causes
so called RSS uncertainty.
Sources of RSS uncertainty include hardware imperfections,
movement of persons or any other objects in the surrounding
of communicating nodes, random change of electromagnetic
field or interference with other wireless networks in the same
frequency range. These factors cannot be eliminated and their
influence completely avoided. It is necessary to describe and
characterize RSS uncertainty and involve procedures or
methods which are capable to eliminate its undesirable
influence and to give RSS value without random variations. It
is important to find the distribution type and the deviation
dependency of RSS uncertainty for the localization.
As claimed and verified by performed measurements in a
few works (e.g. [8][13]), the RSS uncertainty has a Gaussian
or log-normal distribution with the probability density function
(PDF) given by the following formula:
 ( x − µ )2 
PDFσ ,µ ( x ) =
1 connected with GPIB/USB cable to PC with Matlab running
exp − 
 (5)
σ 2π  2σ 2

where μ is the expected value of received signal, σ is the
standard deviation and x is the variable of measured value.
The authors of [12] proposed three methods for RSS value
determination. Assuming we have a set of RSS measurements
with N values, we have to determine one RSS value
corresponding to the distance. The elementary option requires
just calculation of statistical mean value by
1 N
∑ RSSi ,
RSS = (6)
N i =1
where RSSi represents each single measurement.
Another option incorporates normal distribution and
exclusion of less probable values. Gaussian distribution
function is applied on the set of N values. Then, only values
with probability higher then determined threshold (in [14]
threshold 0.6 is used) are considered for subsequent data
processing. This procedure can exclude small probability
events, which could cause inaccurate determination of RSS
value.
The third introduced method is based on the knowledge of
distance and power mean between two reference points. The
distance between unknown node and one reference node is
derived from the ratio of mean powers between them.
4
IV. RSS MEASUREMENTS
To investigate RSS uncertainty and its influence on RSS
measurement and distance estimation, the following
measurement scheme was designed for indoor and outdoor
measurements. The measurement concept was proposed with
the intention of general and commercial product independent
investigation of radio channel for the localization purposes.
Therefore measurement was not affected by individual
transceiver characteristics of different sensor nodes, energy
level of batteries and it can be repeated with any signal
analyzing devices.
A. Measurement set-up
The main aim of the measurement was to investigate the
received signal power change due to uncertainty in radio
channel. The measurement set-up was designed with respect to
both indoor and outdoor RSS measurement.
The measurement set-up consists of two basic parts:
transmitter of radio signal and receiver of this signal. As the
transmitter, generator ROHDE & SCHWARZ fsh3 was used,
and signal was received by the signal analyzer ROHDE &
SCHWARZ FSP Spectrum analyzer. The generator
transmitted the basic harmonic signal with frequency
2.478GHz with zero SPAN at the power level -20dBm with
both monopole antenna with ground plane (gain = 1dB) and
patched antenna (gain = 5dB). The signal analyzer was
application to automate the measurement.
At the receiving side, with respect to common design of
WSN nodes, the low noise amplifier was used to amplify the
received signal before its processing. To power the amplifier,
12V power source and bias tee were used.
The indoor measurement was carried out in a big room with
tile flooring, plasterboard ceiling and concrete walls. The basic
measurement scene consisted of measuring of the signal power
level in 0.13 m steps up to 7 m. Fig. 4 presents the results from
the measurement. As commented before, at each point, ten
individual measurements were performed. The minimum,
maximum and average value can be seen in the figure. The
considerable ripple along the distance is caused by fading
effect and multipath signal propagation.
-50
-55
-60
Power(dBm)
-65
-70
-75
-80
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Distance(m)
> REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) < 5

Fig. 4: The power levels of received signal measured indoor at different
distances. The minimum (green), maximum (red) and average (blue) value of
each in-place measurement are depicted.
The uncertainty of each one-place measurement can be
better seen in Fig. 5. STD of measurements is slightly
increasing but it does not exceed 1dB in most cases.
2 values for each in-place measurement can be seen in Fig. 8, the
1.5
Std(dB)
covered with small granite stones, the surrounding buildings
which could have reflected the signals were far enough. The
frequency of measurement was elected from the edges of ISM
2.4GHz frequency band with respect to intrusive signals
randomly appeared in the middle of the frequency band.
The received signal power with the minimum and maximum
standard deviation of these measurements in Fig. 9.
-40

1
-50
0.5
-60
0

Power(dBm)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Distance(m) -70
Fig. 5: Standard deviation of indoor measurement.
To investigate the influence of obstacles between the -80
transmitter and the receiver, we placed wooden objects in the
path of ground reflected signal. Our intention was to minimize -90
the strong reflection from tile flooring. The comparison of
measurement with and without obstacles is depicted in Fig. 6. -100
0 5 10 15 20 25
Fig.7 compares the STD of the measurements. Distance(m)
Fig. 8: The power levels of received signal measured outdoor. The minimum
-54
(green), maximum (red) and average (blue) value of each in-place
without obstacles
-56 measurement are depicted.
with obstacles
-58
3
-60
2.5
-62
Power(dBm)

-64 2
Std(dB)

-66
1.5
-68
1
-70

-72 0.5

-74 0
3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 0 5 10 15 20 25
Distance(m) Distance(m)
Fig. 6: Influence of obstacles in ground reflected path on RSS measurement. Fig. 9: Standard deviation of outdoor measurement.

1.4
without obstacles
V. CONCLUSION
1.2 with obstacles This paper deals with the investigation of RSS measurement
1 for the purposes of wireless nodes localization. After a brief
overview of localization techniques, the RSS measurement
0.8
Std(dB)

principle is given in more details and the issue of RSS

0.6 uncertainty highlighted as the phenomena, which significantly
0.4 influence the RSS measurement and subsequent distance
estimation.
0.2
The measurement set-up was designed and both indoor and
0
3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5
outdoor measurements were carried out. If we focus first on
Distance(m) the indoor measurement we can notice a high variance of
Fig. 7: Standard deviation of RSS measurement with and without obstacles. received power at the points very close to each other. This is
caused probably by the multipath effect and high density of
After the indoor measurements the experimental set-up was fading points. However, this fact implies the difficulties in
moved outdoor onto a plane ground with no obstacles between usability of such measurement for the distance estimation.
the signal source and the receiver. The surface of the area was Although RSS values are slightly decreasing with the distance,
> REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) < 6

their variance causes that the measured value cannot be used [12] P.Morávek, D. Girbau, A.Lazaro, D. Komosný, “Received Signal
Strength Uncertainty in Energy-Aware Localization in Wireless Sensor
for the distance determination with certainty. For example, the Networks”, 9th International Conference on Environment and Electrical
value of -58 dBm can be linked with the different distances Engineering EEEIC in Prague, May 2010, ISBN:978-1-4244-5371-9.
almost in the whole range of the measurement. [13] Hyunggi Cho; Myungseok Kang; Jonghyuk Park; Byungsung Park;
Hagbae Kim, "Performance Analysis of Location Estimation Algorithm
Thus, small standard deviation of measurement cannot be in ZigBee Networks Using Received Signal Strength," Advanced
considered as a positive aspect anyway. Information Networking and Applications Workshops, 2007, AINAW
The placement of obstacles around the direct signal path did '07.
not have any significant influence in our case. The variation of [14] Zhang Jianwu; Zhang Lu, "Research on distance measurement based on
RSSI of ZigBee," Computing, Communication, Control, and
received power neither decreased nor increased considerably. Management, 2009. CCCM 2009. ISECS International Colloquium on ,
The change of situation affected just a little the standard vol.3, no., pp.210-212, 8-9 Aug. 2009
deviation. The measurement with obstacles featured higher
STD at shorter distances.
In case of outdoor measurement, there is a significant
decreasing tendency without a great variance of received
power. The decrease is sharper at shorter distances whereas
more gradual at larger distances. If we have a look at the figure
depicting standard deviation (Fig. 9) we see its exponential
increase. Combining the results from these figures we can
summarize that the rough distance estimation is possible
outdoor. However, we have to be aware of RSS uncertainty,
which affects more significantly the estimation at larger
distances. This conclusion is inferred from the higher values of
the uncertainty and the fact that STD of 1dB is related to
smaller change of distance estimation for shorter distances
than for larger distance.

REFERENCES
[1] T. Mácha, Z. Martinásek, P. Stančík, “Impact of scattering models on
connectivity in sensor network.“ In 32nd International Conference on
Telecommunications and Signal Processing - TSP' 2009. 2009. pp. 1-5.
ISBN: 978-963-06-7716- 5.
[2] I.F. Akyildiz, W. Su, Y. Sankarasubramaniam, and E. Cayirci,
“Wireless sensor networks: A survey”, Computer Networks J., 38(4),
pp. 393–422, 2002.
[3] M. Šimek, D. Komosný, R. Burget, J. Sá Silva, “Multicast Routing in
Wireless Sensor Network.” In Telecommunication and Signal
Processing 2008. 2008. pp. 54-59. ISBN: 978-963-06-5487- 6.
[4] T. Camilo, A. Rodrigues, J. Silva and F. Boavida, "Management of
Mobility in Wireless Sensor Networks", IEEE International Symposium
on a World of Wireless Mobile and Multimedia Networks, WoWMoM
2008, June 2008
[5] J. Hightower, G. Borriello, “Location systems for ubiquitous
computing”, Computer , vol.34, no.8, pp.57-66, Aug 2001
[6] P. Moravek, D. Komosny, J. Sveda et al. “Vivaldi and other localization
methods” In 32nd International Conference on Telecommunications
and Signal Processing - TSP' 2009. 2009. pp. 214-218. ISBN: 978-963-
06-7716- 5.
[7] IEEE Standard for Information Technology Part 15.4: Wireless Medium
Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications for
Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks (LR-WPANs), IEEE Std
802.15.4-2003.
[8] T. Stoyanova, F. Kerasiotis, A. Prayati, G. Papadopoulos, "A Practical
RF Propagation Model for Wireless Network Sensors," Sensor
Technologies and Applications, 2009. SENSORCOMM '09. Third
International Conference on , vol., no., pp.194-199, 18-23 June 2009.
[9] T. Rappaport, “Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice”, 2nd
Edition, Prentice Hall 2001, ISBN: 0130422320
[10] W.C. Jakes, “Microwave Mobile Communications”, Wiley, 1974.
Reprinted by IEEE Press in 1994.
[11] N. Patwari, J.N. Ash, S. Kyperountas, A.O. Hero, R.L. Moses, N.S.
Correal, "Locating the nodes: cooperative localization in wireless sensor
networks," Signal Processing Magazine, IEEE , vol.22, no.4, pp. 54-69,
July 2005.