A Study on Room-Level Accuracy of Wi-Fi Fingerprinting-Based Indoor Localization Systems

Global positioning system and other outdoor positioning mechanisms are already subject to comprehensive research and development for almost half a century. Conversely, indoor positioning services became a hot topic in the last decade. Since GPS (and. other outdoor solutions) do not work reliably in most indoor environments, researchers and developers are working on accurate positioning solutions, especially tailored for indoor places. However; due to walls, furniture, people and other obstacles, absolute location estimation is very hard and expensive to achieve in indoor places. In addition, accuracy needs depend on the scenario and application. In this study, we have studied the feasibility of room-level location detection in home and office environments. We have focused on examining the quality of room-wise detection accuracy of the fingerprinting method that is applied along with standard Wi-Fi radio infrastructure. We have conducted experiments in a multi-storey office building made of concrete and aerated concrete bricks with many rooms, in which it is significantly hard to accurately estimate the correct place of a thing, using radio signals. To the best of our knowledge, our paper is the first study that investigates the room-level accuracy of Wi-Fi fingerprinting-based indoor localization systems. We have found out that, it is possible to feasibly achieve room-level detection with good accuracy, via a pre-calculated room-specific received signal strength indicator threshold value.

___

  • 1. Kim, S, Ha, S, Saad, A, Kim, J. Indoor Positioning System Techniques and Security, in proc. of the IEEE Fourth International Conference on e-Technologies and Networks for Development (ICeND), Lodz, Poland, 2015, pp 1-4.
  • 2. Koyuncu, H, Yang, S.H, A survey of indoor positioning and object locating system, International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, 2010, 10(5), 121-128.
  • 3. Li, B, Salter, J, Dempster, A.G, Rizos, C. Indoor Positioning Techniques Based on Wireless LAN, proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Wireless Broadband and Ultra-Wideband Communications (AusWireless), Sydney, Australia, 2006.
  • 4. Seco, F, Plagemann, C, Jiménez, A.R, Burgard, W. Improving RFID-Based Indoor Positioning Accuracy Using Gaussian Processes, proceedings of the IEEE Int. Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation (IPIN), Zurich, Switzerland, 2010, pp 1-8.
  • 5. Mazuelas, S, Bahillo, A, Lorenzo, R.M, Fernandez, P, Lago, F.A, Garcia, E, Blas, J, Abril, E.J, Robust indoor positioning provided by real-time RSSI values in unmodified WLAN networks, IEEE Journal of selected topics in signal processing, 2009, 3(5), 821-831. doi:10.1109/JSTSP.2009.2029191.
  • 6. Jekabsons, G, Kairish, V, Zuravlyov, V, An analysis of Wi-Fi based indoor positioning accuracy, Scientific Journal of Riga Technical University, Computer Sciences, 2011, 44(1), 131-137. doi:10.2478/v10143-011-0031-4.
  • 7. Aruba Networks Inc., Indoor 802.11n site survey and planning. https://community.arubanetworks.com/aruba/attachments/aruba/unified-wired-wireless-access/588/1/indoor80211n_2012-05-31.pdf, 2012 (accessed 12.04.2018).
  • 8. Internal Positioning, Framework for internal navigation and discovery (FIND). https://www.internalpositioning.com/faq/, 2017 (accessed 12.04.2018)
  • 9. Group, H.L, Hand washing: A modest measure—with big effects, BMJ: British Medical Journal, 1999, 318(7185), 686.
  • 10. Whitby, M, McLaws, M. L, Ross, M.W, Why healthcare workers don't wash their hands: a behavioral explanation, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 2006, 27(5), 484-492. doi:10.1086/503335.
  • 11. Chapre, Y, Ignjatovic, A, Seneviratne, A, Jha, S. Csi-mimo: Indoor Wi-Fi Fingerprinting System., in proc. of the IEEE 39th Conf. on Local Comp. Networks (LCN), Edmonton, AB, Canada, 2014, pp 202-209.