[Paper Review] Geometry-covering Jammer Localization based on Distance Comprehension in Wireless Sensor Networks

Sheng Wang, Chunliang Chu|arXiv (Cornell University)|Dec 21, 2015

Indoor and Outdoor Localization Technologies17 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper proposes a low-energy jammer localization method in wireless sensor networks using geometric covering and distance comprehension. By leveraging received jamming signal power at boundary nodes to compensate for estimation errors, it computes the minimum covering circle of the victim area, achieving high localization accuracy with reduced energy consumption, validated through simulations under varying node density and jamming region parameters.

ABSTRACT

Jamming attacks could cause severe damage to Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Once jamming attack occurs, the most urgent work is to get the position information of the jammer. Then safety measures to eliminate the jamming effects can be devised. In this paper, the jammer localization is conducted by geometric covering method to achieve a low energy consumption. And utilizing the power of the jamming signal received by the boundary nodes, a compensating method is composed to reduce the estimating error of the jamming area. At last the localization is conducted by extracting the minimum covering circle of the compensated victim area. Simulations are conducted to test the localization accuracy with the impact of node density, jamming region and radius. Results show that this localization method achieves both good precision and low energy consumption.

Motivation & Objective

• To address the critical need for rapid jammer localization in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) to mitigate jamming attacks.
• To reduce energy consumption in jammer localization while maintaining high accuracy.
• To improve localization precision by compensating for estimation errors in the jammed area using received signal power at boundary nodes.
• To develop a geometric covering approach that identifies the minimum enclosing circle of the victim area for robust jammer localization.

Proposed method

• Utilizes boundary nodes to detect jamming signal power, forming the basis for estimating the jammed region.
• Applies a compensating method to refine the estimated jamming area by accounting for signal attenuation and propagation loss.
• Employs geometric covering to determine the minimum enclosing circle of the compensated victim area.
• Uses the center of the minimum covering circle as the estimated jammer location.
• Integrates distance comprehension to enhance the accuracy of the jamming region estimation.
• Employs a distributed, energy-efficient approach by focusing only on boundary nodes and minimizing communication overhead.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How can jammer localization be achieved with minimal energy consumption in wireless sensor networks?
• RQ2 To what extent does signal power compensation at boundary nodes improve jammer localization accuracy?
• RQ3 How does the geometric covering method based on the minimum enclosing circle enhance localization precision?
• RQ4 How do variations in node density and jamming region size affect the performance of the proposed method?
• RQ5 Can the proposed method achieve high localization accuracy while maintaining low computational and communication costs?

Key findings

• The proposed method achieves high localization accuracy even under low node density conditions.
• Signal power compensation significantly reduces estimation errors in the jammed area.
• The minimum covering circle approach effectively localizes the jammer with minimal computational overhead.
• Localization precision improves as node density increases, with measurable accuracy gains in simulations.
• The method maintains low energy consumption by focusing only on boundary nodes and avoiding full-network monitoring.
• Simulations confirm robust performance across varying jamming region sizes and shapes, demonstrating practical applicability.