Wi-Fi Location Tracking Accuracy Mitigation via RSSI Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional wireless location tracking algorithms experience decreased accuracy due to the adoption of beamforming capable chipsets, which introduce a bias in sensor observations by transmitting data frames in a directional beam, differing from omnidirectional transmissions.
Innovation Solution
A process and system that segment access points into beamforming and non-beamforming paths, using RSSI values from non-beamforming paths to determine the location of client devices, by identifying a location-determination subset of RSSI values associated with frames received by access points outside the beamforming path and comparing them with cached non-beamformed RSSI fingerprints.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If beamforming capable chipsets are adopted to transmit data frames in a directional beam, then signal strength is improved, but location-tracking accuracy deteriorates due to bias in sensor observations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments access points into two distinct groups: beamforming-path access points and non-beamforming-path access points. This segmentation allows the system to separately process RSSI values from different transmission paths, using only the non-beamforming-path access points for location determination, thereby eliminating the bias introduced by beamforming while preserving the signal strength benefits where applicable
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and excludes the biased RSSI values from beamforming-path access points from the location-determination process. By taking out the problematic beamforming-influenced measurements and using only the unbiased RSSI values from non-beamforming-path access points, the system maintains location-tracking accuracy despite the widespread adoption of beamforming technology
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for mitigating the impact of beamforming on the accuracy of Wi-Fi based location tracking of client devices. An embodiment takes the form of a process that includes (a) obtaining a plurality of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values respectively associated with frames in a plurality of frames that were (i) received by various access points in a plurality of access points and (ii) transmitted by a client device that is connected to a first access point in the plurality of access points; (b) segmenting the access points in the plurality of access points into (i) a beamforming-path set of one or more access points and (ii) a non-beamforming-path set of one or more access points; (c) identifying a location-determination subset of the obtained RSSI values; and (d) determining a location of the client device using the identified location-determination subset of the obtained RSSI values.