Theory of semidefinite programming for sensor network localization

Anthony Man-Cho So, Yinyu Ye

Abstract: We analyze the semidefinite programming (SDP) based model and method for the position estimation problem in sensor network localization and other Euclidean distance geometry applications. We use SDP duality and interior-point algorithm theories to prove that the SDP localizes any network or graph that has unique sensor positions to fit given distance measures. Therefore, we show, for the first time, that these networks can be localized in polynomial time. We also give a simple and efficient criterion for checking whether a given instance of the localization problem has a unique realization in R2 using graph rigidity theory. Finally, we introduce a notion called strong localizability and show that the SDP model will identify all strongly localizable subnetworks in the input network.