Application Performance Evaluation for IBeacon In-Room Localization Technology Using CRLB

Yang, Yang

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Application Performance Evaluation for IBeacon In-Room Localization Technology Using CRLB

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This thesis is a part of a research project performed by two MS students, Zhouchi Li and the author. The overall objective of the project is the design, implementation and performance evaluation of algorithms for newborns localization and tracking in hospitals using Apple iBeacon technology. Although we were working on the project together, I lead performance evaluation of the in-room localization system using Cramer Rao Lower Bound (CRLB). My partner, Zhouchi Li, leads modeling the path-loss of iBeacons and presence detection algorithms. This thesis describes the project with a focus on my individual contributions in CRLB analysis under different iBeacon deployment patterns as well as performance evaluation using practical characteristics of shadow fading. Today, Wi-Fi localization is the most popular indoor localization technique, which provides an accuracy of a few meters to distinguish the presences in different rooms of a building. With the recent introduction of iBeacon by Apple, possibility of more accurate in-room localization has emerged for specific applications such as locating newborns inside a hospital. The iBeacon uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology that broadcasts beacons with unique information to the nearby receivable devices such as iPhone and android smart phones. The RSS of these beacons can be used to estimate the location and to construct an in-room localization system. In this thesis, we investigate in-room localization system using iBeacon for the newborns in hospitals with an accuracy of about 1 meter. We firstly present an in-room localization system using RSS from iBeacon. Then, based on the traditional Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) we analyze the optimal deployment strategy for different iBeacon deployment patterns in the nursery room. Finally, we introduce a novel approach for calculation of the CRLB which includes practical conditions to analyze the influence of variable variance of shadow fading and coverage probability.

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