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

Abstract

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.

A Comparison of Wireless Standards in IoT for Indoor Localization Using LoPy

“…Moreover, localization accuracy also depends on room area. Larger rooms tend to have fewer obstructions [38] , which also increases localization accuracy. The area of the classroom was much larger than that of the remaining two environments which may have increased localization accuracy.…”