User-installable Indoor Positioning System Using a Wi-Fi Beacon and PDR Module

This paper describes a user-installable indoor positioning system based on a new wireless beaconing method called a Wi-Fi location beacon, and a pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) module. In the proposed system, the new wireless beaconing method offers an accurate positioning system using a high-gain beam antenna in the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band. The antenna forms a narrow hotspot of received signal strength (RSSI) in the space immediately below itself; the user devices detect the hotspot by monitoring the RSSI. The beaconing module is also resistant to jamming by other wireless systems and noise. Experimental results show that the proposed system can work in a high density Wi-Fi environment with over 100 Wi-Fi stations, and the positioning error of the proposed system at CDF = 90% is about 3.5 m. The positioning accuracy of the proposed system is slightly inferior to previous systems based on the Wi-Fi fingerprint method, but it achieves a similar function using a user-installable system which is easier to install and maintain than previous systems.