Observation model for indoor positioning

The IEEE 802.11mc WiFi standard provides a protocol for a cellphone to measure its distance from WiFi access points (APs). The position of the cellphone can then be estimated from the reported distances using known positions of the APs. There are several “multilateration” methods...

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Main Author: Horn, Berthold K. P.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Format: Article
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2020
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127692
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author Horn, Berthold K. P.
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Horn, Berthold K. P.
author_sort Horn, Berthold K. P.
collection MIT
description The IEEE 802.11mc WiFi standard provides a protocol for a cellphone to measure its distance from WiFi access points (APs). The position of the cellphone can then be estimated from the reported distances using known positions of the APs. There are several “multilateration” methods that work in relatively open environments. The problem is harder in a typical residence where signals pass through walls and floors. There, Bayesian cell update has shown particular promise. The Bayesian grid update method requires an “observation model” which gives the conditional probability of observing a reported distance given a known actual distance. The parameters of an observation model may be fitted using scattergrams of reported distances versus actual distance. We show here that the problem of fitting an observation model can be reduced from two dimensions to one. We further show that, perhaps surprisingly, a “double exponential” observation model fits real data well. Generating the test data involves knowing not only the positions of the APs but also that of the cellphone. Manual determination of positions can limit the scale of test data collection. We show here that “boot strapping,” using results of a Bayesian grid update method as a proxy for the actual position, can provide an accurate observation model, and a good observation model can nearly double the accuracy of indoor positioning. Finally, indoors, reported distance measurements are biased to be mostly longer than the actual distances. An attempt is made here to detect this bias and compensate for it.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1276922022-09-30T07:34:08Z Observation model for indoor positioning Horn, Berthold K. P. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science The IEEE 802.11mc WiFi standard provides a protocol for a cellphone to measure its distance from WiFi access points (APs). The position of the cellphone can then be estimated from the reported distances using known positions of the APs. There are several “multilateration” methods that work in relatively open environments. The problem is harder in a typical residence where signals pass through walls and floors. There, Bayesian cell update has shown particular promise. The Bayesian grid update method requires an “observation model” which gives the conditional probability of observing a reported distance given a known actual distance. The parameters of an observation model may be fitted using scattergrams of reported distances versus actual distance. We show here that the problem of fitting an observation model can be reduced from two dimensions to one. We further show that, perhaps surprisingly, a “double exponential” observation model fits real data well. Generating the test data involves knowing not only the positions of the APs but also that of the cellphone. Manual determination of positions can limit the scale of test data collection. We show here that “boot strapping,” using results of a Bayesian grid update method as a proxy for the actual position, can provide an accurate observation model, and a good observation model can nearly double the accuracy of indoor positioning. Finally, indoors, reported distance measurements are biased to be mostly longer than the actual distances. An attempt is made here to detect this bias and compensate for it. 2020-09-25T19:09:19Z 2020-09-25T19:09:19Z 2020-07 2020-05 2020-08-21T13:49:30Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1424-8220 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127692 Horn, Berthold K. P. "Observation model for indoor positioning." Sensors 20, 14 (July 2020): 4027 ©2020 Author(s) http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s20144027 Sensors Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
spellingShingle Horn, Berthold K. P.
Observation model for indoor positioning
title Observation model for indoor positioning
title_full Observation model for indoor positioning
title_fullStr Observation model for indoor positioning
title_full_unstemmed Observation model for indoor positioning
title_short Observation model for indoor positioning
title_sort observation model for indoor positioning
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127692
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