Indoor Radio Map Generation Using Device Collected Fingerprints
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current indoor positioning systems face challenges in achieving accurate navigation and floor detection indoors due to the limitations of existing technologies, which require new infrastructure and manual surveying, making them costly and difficult to scale globally.
Innovation Solution
A method using electronic devices to generate and adapt radio maps based on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals, allowing for efficient and adaptive indoor positioning and floor detection without exhaustive manual surveying, by obtaining and broadcasting fingerprints from radio nodes and interpolating radio maps for accurate position estimation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual exhaustive radio surveying is performed to create radio maps, then positioning accuracy and floor detection reliability are improved, but deployment time and costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables electronic devices to autonomously perform radio measurements and automatically generate radio maps without requiring manual surveying. Devices collect Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signal data, determine their positions, and contribute to building radio maps that improve over time through self-organizing mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
Radio maps are pre-generated using automated algorithms that process available signal data before actual positioning operations begin. The system performs preliminary radio environment characterization and creates initial radio maps that can be continuously refined, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual surveying before deployment.
2Reliability
If manual exhaustive radio surveying is performed to create radio maps, then positioning accuracy and floor detection reliability are improved, but deployment complexity and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically maintains radio maps through continuous background measurements by electronic devices. The self-organizing mechanism detects changes in the radio environment and updates radio maps autonomously, eliminating the need for manual re-surveying when environmental changes occur.
Solution Approach 2:
Radio maps are designed as dynamic structures that can be automatically updated to reflect changes in the indoor environment. The system adapts to new walls, relocated radio nodes, or modified floor layouts through automated detection and map regeneration, maintaining reliability without manual intervention.
3Measurement precision
If existing indoor positioning technologies are deployed, then positioning capability is achieved, but infrastructure deployment costs and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system leverages existing multi-functional electronic devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops) that already contain Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities for positioning purposes. These devices serve dual purposes: their primary functions remain unchanged while they simultaneously perform radio measurements and contribute to radio map generation, eliminating the need for dedicated positioning infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning system utilizes the existing computational resources, sensors, and communication capabilities of electronic devices themselves. Devices perform their own positioning calculations and contribute data to the collective radio map, eliminating the need for expensive centralized processing infrastructure or specialized hardware deployment.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, electronic device and apparatus are disclosed. The method comprises obtaining a plurality of fingerprints. Each fingerprint is determined by a respective radio node. One or more respective signals are sent by one or more respective radio nodes surrounding the respective radio node. Each fingerprint comprises a respective piece of position information that, is indicative of the respective location of the radio node that determined the fingerprint. Each fingerprint further comprises at least one respective piece of identifier information associated with and uniquely identifying the respective one or more radio nodes surrounding the respective radio node. The method also includes generating a radio map based at least on the fingerprints; determining a further radio measurement for a current location of the electronic device; and determining the position of the electronic device based at least on the determined further radio measurement and the generated radio map.