Ephemeral ID Beacon-Based Improved Indoor Positioning System

Abstract

Recently, the rapid development of mobile devices and communication technologies has dramatically increased the demand for location-based services that provide users with location-oriented information and services. User location in outdoor spaces is measured with high accuracy using GPS. However, because the indoor reception of GPS signals is not smooth, this solution is not viable in indoor spaces. Many on-going studies are exploring new approaches for indoor location measurement. One popular technique involves using the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values from the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to measure the distance between a mobile device and the beacons and then determining the position of the user in an indoor space by applying a positioning algorithm such as the trilateration method. However, it remains difficult to obtain accurate data because RSSI values are unstable owing to the influence of elements in the surrounding environment such as weather, humidity, physical barriers, and interference from other signals. In this paper, we propose an indoor location tracking system that improves performance by correcting unstable RSSI signals received from BLE beacons. We apply a filter algorithm based on the average filter and the Kalman filter to reduce the error range of results calculated using the RSSI values.