IEEE 802.15.4a standard enables location-aided routing or topology control in ZigBee networks, since it uses time-of-arrival (TOA)-based ranging technique. However, TOA based techniques may yield location error due to the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) effects, and hence degrade the network performance. In this letter, we demonstrate the impact of NLOS on the localization performance and propose a location error detection and compensation algorithm for IEEE 802.15.4a networks. The proposed algorithm detects NLOS by using the min-max algorithm and compensates the location error by using the Kalman filter. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm significantly reduces the localization errors in indoor environments.

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), geographic routing algorithms can enhance the network capacity. However, in real WSNs, it is difficult for each node to know its physical location accurately. Geographic routing with location errors may produce serious problems such as disconnected links and data transmission delays. In this letter, we present an efficient location error compensation algorithm for the geographic routing. The proposed algorithm efficiently detects and corrects the location errors and significantly enhances the network performance of geographic routing in the presence of location errors.