RSSI-Based Distance Estimation Framework Using a Kalman Filter for Sustainable Indoor Computing Environments

Abstract

Given that location information is the key to providing a variety of services in sustainable indoor computing environments, it is required to obtain accurate locations. Locations can be estimated by three distances from three fixed points. Therefore, if the distance between two points can be measured or estimated accurately, the location in indoor environments can be estimated. To increase the accuracy of the measured distance, noise filtering, signal revision, and distance estimation processes are generally performed. This paper proposes a novel framework for estimating the distance between a beacon and an access point (AP) in a sustainable indoor computing environment. Diverse types of received strength signal indications (RSSIs) are used for WiFi, Bluetooth, and radio signals, and the proposed distance estimation framework is unique in that it is independent of the specific wireless signal involved, being based on the Bluetooth signal of the beacon. Generally, RSSI measurement, noise filtering, and revision are required for distance estimation using RSSIs. The employed RSSIs are first measured from an AP, with multiple APs sometimes used to increase the accuracy of the distance estimation. Owing to the inevitable presence of noise in the measured RSSIs, the application of noise filtering is essential, and further revision is used to address the inaccuracy and instability that characterizes RSSIs measured in an indoor environment. The revised RSSIs are then used to estimate the distance. The proposed distance estimation framework uses one AP to measure the RSSIs, a Kalman filter to eliminate noise, and a log-distance path loss model to revise the measured RSSIs. In the experimental implementation of the framework, both a RSSI filter and a Kalman filter were respectively used for noise elimination to comparatively evaluate the performance of the latter for the specific application. The Kalman filter was found to reduce the accumulated errors by 8% relative to the RSSI filter. This confirmed the accuracy of the proposed distance estimation framework.

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“…The first paper [1], entitled RSSI-Based Distance Estimation Framework Using a Kalman Filter for Sustainable Indoor Computing Environments, by Sung, Y., presents a RSSI framework that contains RSSI measurement, noise filtering, and revision processes for calculating the distance from a beacon to an access point (AP) based on Bluetooth signals. The RSSIs are measured by one AP.…”