University System of Maryland

Ronald L Larsen

A Udaya Shankar

Ashok Kumar Agrawala

Douglas C Szajda

An asset positioning method and system () rapidly and accurately determine the special location of wireless nodes distributed in three-dimensional space. Furthermore, as a by-product, every node also determines the relative offset and drift of every other node's clock, so that it is possible for all nodes to carry out a precise synchronized action (). The positioning and synchronization protocol has significant implications for a broad range of wireless networking infrastructure and applications. For instance, the rapid availability of accurate location information greatly simplifies and optimises the implementation of ad-hoc networks and sensor-based applications (). Additionally, the synchronized node operations facilitate the development of new applications, such as phase-locked arrays, in which several low power transmitters coordinate to form a powerful group transmitter. Since the positioning protocol yields rapid responses and positional accuracy in the range of a few centimeters, the positioning protocol permits mobile nodes to be tracked while they are moving.

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Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Ronald L Larsen