Characterization of a Flexible UWB Sensor for Indoor Localization

Abstract

This paper presents research to develop an ultrawideband ranging sensor for personnel indoor localization based on the measurement of the pulse round-trip time. An approach combining flexibility, a high measurement update rate, and asynchronous operation with digital processing capability has been employed in the design of the sensor. The principle of operation, the architecture of the realized sensor, and the experimental setup are described. Finally, the results of a ranging calibration and validation test are presented and discussed. In the validation procedure, a root-mean-square error of 29 cm and a maximum absolute error of 81 cm with an operational range of approximately 10 m were observed.

Schedule-based sequential localization in asynchronous wireless networks

“…As a case study, we consider the two-dimensional localization of nodes in an IR-UWB wireless sensor network [11,18,28]. In such a scenario, the timing information is obtained by measuring the propagation time of subnanosecond UWB pulses.…”

“…When a node transmits a signal, it is received by the other nodes, then the next node in the sequence transmits, making the process event-driven. Delays at all nodes are assumed to be analog as mentioned in [16][17][18]. On the basis of observed time intervals between received signals at an arbitrary node n, the goal is to achieve both self-localization and localization of other transceiving nodes participating in the sequence, T at node n without the need for clock synchronization or additional communication.…”

“…Since the transmissions are event-driven, the schedule-based localization concept provides other advantages, such as asynchronous operation and high update rate. The concept can be realized with low complexity hardware [18][19][20][21]. The http://asp.eurasipjournals.com/content/2014/1 /16 importance of removing communication overhead is particularly high in systems like the tactical locator system, TOR, described in [22].…”

“…The method proposed in this paper is based on several assumptions that are valid in an IR-UWB set-up, which is our main interest. Therefore, here, we present numerical simulation results obtained using a network of IR-UWB nodes, where we set the parameters of the network configuration and error based on previous experimental work [18][19][20][21]. We highlight however that the method is applicable for a plurality of other localization technologies, mutatis mutandis, yielding varying degrees of accuracy depending on the ability to resolve time signatures.…”

Voice radio communication, pedestrian localization, and the tactical use of 3D audio

“…Currently, the inter-agent ranging is provided as synthetic range measurements from a Ubisense radio localization system. However, our ambition is to replace this with in-house developed UWB-radios [17]. The processing and communication platforms are Android smartphones and tablets (Samsung Galaxy SIII and Samsung Tab 2) relying on a WiFi network for communication.…”