Patent ID: 7548517

Claim:
A method for determining a node's location within a communication system, the method comprising the steps of: (a) determining a plurality of distances to nodes within the communication system based on first channel-model parameters, wherein the first channel-model parameters are parameters to an equation relating path-loss to distance; (b) producing a first location of the node based on the plurality of distances; (c) calculating new channel-model parameters based on the first location, wherein the second channel-model parameters are parameters to the equation relating path-loss to distance; (d) recalculating the plurality of distances to nodes within the communication system based on the second channel-model parameters; (e) producing a second location of the node based on the recalculated distances; and wherein the channel model comprises PL dB ⁡ ( d ) = PL dB ⁡ ( do ) ︸ A + n * 10 ⁢ ⁢ log ⁡ ( d ) where PLdB(d) is the Path Loss in dB at distance d and n is the path loss coefficient that indicates a rate at which path loss increases with distance, and A is a Path Loss in dB at distance do.