Performance of TDOA and AOA Localization Techniques for Different Base-Stations Topologies

© 2019 IEEE. Time difference of arrival (TDOA) and angle of arrival (AOA) localization techniques provide satisfactory positioning performance utilizing multiple base-stations (BSs). However, their performance depends on the BSs topology, which may restrict localization zones. The significance of the BSs topology increases when the localization needs line-of-sight (LoS) communication and the transmitter utilizes directional antennas for signal transmission -e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with directional antennas. In this work, in order to study the impact of the BSs topology on the performance of the aerial localization with LoS communication, we model two well-known TDOA and one AOA localization techniques with the minimum number of required BSs. After analyzing their system model, we derive a closed form expression for the covered area on the ground by the directional antenna of an aerial transmitter. The covered area determines a region where the BSs should be located in to be exposed to the LoS communication. From the MATLAB simulation results, we can determine the impact of the BSs topology on the localization accuracy and explain the role of the BSs topology in conjunction with the geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) and standard deviation (SD) of TDOA/AOA measurements.