iLocScan: harnessing multipath for simultaneous indoor source localization and space scanning

Abstract

Whereas a few physical layer techniques have been proposed to locate a signal source indoors, they all deem multipath a "curse" and hence take great efforts to cope with it. Consequently, each sensor only obtains the information about the direct path; this necessitates a networked sensing system (hence higher system complexity and deployment cost) with at least three sensors to actually locate a source. In this paper, we deem multipath a "bless" and thus innovatively exploit the power of it. Essentially, with minor knowledge of the geometry of an indoor space, each signal path may potentially contribute a new piece of information to the location of its source. As a result, it is possible to locate the source with only one hand-held device. At the same time, the extra information provided by multipath can help to at least partially reconstruct the geometry of the indoor space, which enables a floor plan generation process missing in most of the indoor localization systems. To demonstrate these ideas, we implement a USRP-based radio sensor prototype named iLocScan; it can simultaneously scan an indoor space (hence generate a plan for it) and position the signal source in it. Through iLocScan, we mainly aim to showcase the feasibility of harnessing multipath in assisting indoor localization, rather than to rival existing proposals in terms of localization accuracy. Nevertheless, our experiments show that iLocScan offers satisfactory results on both source localization and space scanning.