Indoor positioning of mobile devices with agile iBeacon deployment

Abstract

Position of mobile devices and their users provides a great amount of added value and opportunities. The penetration of tracking devices with sensory such as GPS devices, accelerators and specifically smart phones has impacted human lives extensively. Nowadays, many applications on smart phones and mobile devices exploit different techniques and inputs for positioning. Wireless positioning is generally divided into two categories: outdoor positioning and indoor positioning, depending on not only where they are used but also how they work. Powerful as it is, indoor positing is still a challenging problem because satellite-based approaches do not work properly inside buildings. Therefore, for indoor positioning, we need to use other technologies creatively. iBeacon, the focus of this paper, is a new technology which provides a higher level of location awareness in indoor positioning. iBeacon is a built-in, cross-platform technology for Android and iOS devices, which utilizes Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for long-last services. This technology has significant advantages compared to other types of indoor positioning technologies, such as less expensive hardware, less energy consumption, needless to internet connection, and being capable of receiving notifications in background. This technology will provide huge benefits for future location awareness applications. It will change the way retailers, event organizers, and educational institutions communicate with people indoors. In this paper, we aim to provide a more accurate, cost efficient approach to indoor positioning of mobile devices using iBeacon.