Recent Advances in Indoor Localization: A Survey on Theoretical Approaches and Applications

Abstract

Abstract-The availability of location information has become a key factor in today's communications systems allowing location based services. In outdoor scenarios, the mobile terminal position is obtained with high accuracy thanks to the Global Positioning System (GPS) or to the standalone cellular systems. However, the main problem of GPS and cellular systems resides in the indoor environment and in scenarios with deep shadowing effects where the satellite or cellular signals are broken. In this paper, we survey different technologies and methodologies for indoor and outdoor localization with an emphasis on indoor methodologies and concepts. Additionally, we discuss in this review different localization-based applications, where the location information is critical to estimate. Finally, a comprehensive discussion of the challenges in terms of accuracy, cost, complexity, security, scalability, etc. is given. The aim of this survey is to provide a comprehensive overview of existing efforts as well as auspicious and anticipated dimensions for future work in indoor localization techniques and applications.

A Survey of Enabling Technologies for Network Localization, Tracking, and Navigation

“…Moreover, with the pervasive penetration of Internet of Things (IoT) applications into daily life, the importance of solutions that have been studied in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), such as multi-hop range-free localization, is increasing. Also, upcoming technologies and industry trends in the context of 5G communication networks necessitate the use of enhanced localization techniques to attain not only high 2D/3D location accuracy, but also address new challenges, such as availability, scalability, security, and privacy [11]. These solutions require advanced signal processing methods, hybridization of existing techniques, and intelligent information fusion algorithms to fully exploit location-dependent signals from cellular 2G/3G/4G, and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs).…”

“…There is a number of relevant surveys, including [11], [14]- [24], that focus on a subset of the above areas and/or partially cover the related methods and algorithms. A general survey of techniques employing time, angle, and signal strength measurements is presented in [11], [14]- [17].…”

“…A general survey of techniques employing time, angle, and signal strength measurements is presented in [11], [14]- [17]. Brief reviews on enabling wireless technologies for localization are available in [15], [18], and an overview of localization methods is presented in [11], [14], [16], [19]. Theoretical analysis on principles of time-based localization and Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) mitigation algorithms for different wireless systems including but not limited to cellular networks was conducted in [16].…”

“…Dardari et al conducted a comprehensive review on indoor tracking methods including Bayesian filtering, distributed and cooperative tracking, fingerprinting, Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), and data fusion [15]. In [11], challenges and pitfalls of each localization system based on radio frequency and inertial sensors were analyzed, and the authors explored recent applications of learning algorithms to localization.…”

“…Due to the attractiveness of WLAN-based localization, emerging fingerprinting methods for indoor localization were reviewed in the survey papers [11], [20]- [22]. Authors in [20] provided a comprehensive overview of signal strength fingerprint-based methods and a detailed survey on advanced methods for indoor localization with the focus on efficient system deployment.…”