Received signal strength-based target localization methods normally employ radio propagation path loss model, in which the log-normal shadowing noise is generally assumed to follow a zero-mean Gaussian distribution and is uncorrelated. In this article, however, we represent the simplified additive noise by the spatially correlated log-normal shadowing noise. We propose a new convex localization estimator in wireless sensor networks by using received signal strength measurements under spatially correlated shadowing environment. First, we derive a new non-convex estimator based on weighted least squares criterion. Second, by using the equivalence of norm, the derived estimator can be reformulated as its equivalent form which has no logarithm in the objective function. Then, the new estimator is relaxed by applying efficient convex relaxation that is based on second-order cone programming and semi-definite programming technique. Finally, the convex optimization problem can be efficiently solved by a standard interior-point method, thus to obtain the globally optimal solution. Simulation results show that the proposed estimator solves the localization problem efficiently and is close to Cramer-Rao lower bound compared with the state-of-the-art approach under correlated shadowing environment.
