Wireless Location Tracking Algorithms for Environments with Insufficient Signal Sources

Abstract

Location estimation and tracking for the mobile devices have attracted a significant amount of attention in recent years. The network-based location estimation schemes have been widely adopted based on the radio signals between the mobile device and the base stations. The location estimators associated with the Kalman filtering techniques are exploited to both acquire location estimation and trajectory tracking for the mobile devices. However, most of the existing schemes become inapplicable for location tracking due to the deficiency of signal sources. In this paper, two predictive location tracking algorithms are proposed to alleviate this problem. The predictive location tracking (PLT) scheme utilizes the predictive information obtained from the Kalman filter in order to provide the additional signal inputs for the location estimator. Furthermore, the geometric-assisted PLT (GPLT) scheme incorporates the geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) information into the algorithm design. Persistent accuracy for location tracking can be achieved by adopting the proposed GPLT scheme, especially with inadequate signal sources. Numerical results demonstrate that the GPLT algorithm can achieve better precision in comparison with other network-based location tracking schemes.