Indoor location tracking using RSSI readings from a single Wi-Fi access point

Abstract

This paper describes research towards a system for locating wireless nodes in a home environment requiring merely a single access point. The only sensor reading used for the location estimation is the received signal strength indication (RSSI) as given by an RF interface, e.g., Wi-Fi. Wireless signal strength maps for the positioning filter are obtained by a two-step parametric and measurement driven ray-tracing approach to account for absorption and reflection characteristics of various obstacles. Location estimates are then computed using Bayesian filtering on sample sets derived by Monte Carlo sampling. We outline the research leading to the system and provide location performance metrics using trace-driven simulations and real-life experiments. Our results and real-life walk-troughs indicate that RSSI readings from a single access point in an indoor environment are sufficient to derive good location estimates of users with sub-room precision.