Doppler Effect on Location-Based Tracking in Mobile Sensor Networks

Abstract

Mobile sensor networks (MSNs) consist of large number of small and computationally impoverished devices deployed over an area to track mobile objects. Mobility is becoming an important feature of MSNs. Recently, sensors have began to be deployed on mobile platforms such as robots. In this paper, we propose an evaluation of the mobility impact on MSN tracking efficiency. More precisely, we consider the Doppler effect on the results of several target location approaches. Two radar-based angle estimation techniques have been considered: Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) Radar, and monopulse angle estimation. We also analyze the control of the uncertainty due to Doppler shift through a manipulation of the area coverage (i.e., number of sensors per area coverage).