Indoor Localization Using Semi-Supervised Manifold Alignment with Dimension Expansion

Abstract

Location estimation plays a crucial role in Location-Based Services (LBSs) with satisfactory user experience. The Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) localization approach is preferred as a cost-efficient solution to indoor localization on account of the widely-deployed WLAN infrastructures. In this paper, we propose a new WLAN Received Signal Strength (RSS)-based indoor localization approach using the semi-supervised manifold alignment with dimension expansion. In concrete terms, we first construct an innovative objective function based on the augmented physical coordinates and the corresponding WLAN RSS measurements. Second, the closed-form solution to the objective function is derived out according to the Lagrange multiplier equation, which results in the manifold in physical coordinate space. Third, the target location is estimated by matching the transformed newly-collected RSS against the manifold. The localization performance with noise perturbation is analyzed upon the constructed objective function, and meanwhile, the closed-form solution to the objective function with respect to multiple types of measurements is also derived out for the sake of leveraging all of the potential measurements for indoor localization. The extensive testing results show that the proposed approach performs well in localization accuracy even at low calibration load, and its performance can be further improved by using multiple types of measurements for localization.