Achieving Accurate Room-Level Indoor Location Estimation with Emerging IoT Networks

Abstract

A motivating, core capability of most smart, Internet of Things enabled spaces (e.g., home, office, hospital, factory) is the ability to leverage context of use. Location is a key context element; particularly indoor location. Recent advances in radio ranging technologies, such as 802.11-2016 FTM, promise the availability of low-cost, near-ubiquitous time-of-flight-based ranging estimates. In this paper, we build on prior work to enhance the technology's ability to provide useful location estimates. We demonstrate meaningful improvements in coordinate-based estimation accuracy and substantial increases in room-level estimation accuracy. Furthermore, insights gained in our real-world deployment provides important implications for future Internet of Things context applications and their supporting technology deployments such as workflow management, inventory control, or healthcare information tools.