Spread Spectrum Audio Indoor Localization

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an indoor localization experiment that uses spread spectrum modulated audio signals. Indoor spaces do not have line-of-sight to global navigation satellite systems and do not have a truly universal localization system to allow mobile devices to localize themselves. Previous approaches focused in using custom made hardware with several types of signals that, even though with good performance, are not feasible to adopt in a wide scale utilization. The proposed approach uses pre-existent off-the-shelf hardware and easy to handle audio signals present in our everyday lives. However, the challenges when using audible and very susceptible to multipath types of signals are many and require validation of the subjacent principles. An experiment in a real indoor environment was conducted to estimate localization while using spread spectrum noise like signals barely perceptible to people. Results demonstrated a 1.3 cm average accuracy in the center area. These and other results demonstrate the possibility of the use of audio signals with all the advantages regarding wide scale dissemination of an indoor localization solution.