Massive MIMO-based Localization and Mapping Exploiting Phase Information of Multipath Components

In this paper, we present a robust multipath-based localization and mapping framework that exploits the phases of specular multipath components (MPCs) using a massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) array at the base station. Utilizing the phase information related to the propagation distances of the MPCs enables the possibility of localization with extraordinary accuracy even with limited bandwidth. The specular MPC parameters along with the parameters of the noise and the dense multipath component (DMC) are tracked using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), which enables to preserve the distance-related phase changes of the MPC complex amplitudes. The DMC comprises all non-resolvable MPCs, which occur due to finite measurement aperture. The estimation of the DMC parameters enhances the estimation quality of the specular MPCs and therefore also the quality of localization and mapping. The estimated MPC propagation distances are subsequently used as input to a distance-based localization and mapping algorithm. This algorithm does not need prior knowledge about the surrounding environment and base station position. The performance is demonstrated with real radio-channel measurements using an antenna array with 128 ports at the base station side and a standard cellular signal bandwidth of 40 MHz. The results show that high accuracy localization is possible even with such a low bandwidth.Comment: 14 pages (two columns), 13 figures. This work has been submitted to the IEEE Transaction on Wireless Communications for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessibl

Location-Enabled IoT (LE-IoT): A Survey of Positioning Techniques, Error Sources, and Mitigation

The Internet of Things (IoT) has started to empower the future of many industrial and mass-market applications. Localization techniques are becoming key to add location context to IoT data without human perception and intervention. Meanwhile, the newly-emerged Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) technologies have advantages such as long-range, low power consumption, low cost, massive connections, and the capability for communication in both indoor and outdoor areas. These features make LPWAN signals strong candidates for mass-market localization applications. However, there are various error sources that have limited localization performance by using such IoT signals. This paper reviews the IoT localization system through the following sequence: IoT localization system review -- localization data sources -- localization algorithms -- localization error sources and mitigation -- localization performance evaluation. Compared to the related surveys, this paper has a more comprehensive and state-of-the-art review on IoT localization methods, an original review on IoT localization error sources and mitigation, an original review on IoT localization performance evaluation, and a more comprehensive review of IoT localization applications, opportunities, and challenges. Thus, this survey provides comprehensive guidance for peers who are interested in enabling localization ability in the existing IoT systems, using IoT systems for localization, or integrating IoT signals with the existing localization sensors

Inter-Node Distance Estimation from Multipath Delay Differences of Channels to Observer Nodes

We study the estimation of distance d between two wireless nodes by means of their wideband channels to a third node, called observer. The motivating principle is that the channel impulse responses are similar for small d and drift apart when d increases. Following this idea we propose specific distance estimators based on the differences of path delays of the extractable multipath components. In particular, we derive such estimators for rich multipath environments and various important cases: with and without clock synchronization as well as errors on the extracted path delays (e.g. due to limited bandwidth). The estimators readily support (and benefit from) the presence of multiple observers. We present an error analysis and, using ray tracing in an exemplary indoor environment, show that the estimators perform well in realistic conditions. We describe possible localization applications of the proposed scheme and highlight its major advantages: it requires neither precise synchronization nor line-of-sight connection. This could make wireless user tracking feasible in dynamic indoor settings.Comment: To appear at IEEE ICC 2019. This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessibl

Amplitude Modeling of Specular Multipath Components for Robust Indoor Localization

Ultra-Wide Bandwidth (UWB) and mm-wave radio systems can resolve specular multipath components (SMCs) from estimated channel impulse response measurements. A geometric model can describe the delays, angles-of-arrival, and angles-of-departure of these SMCs, allowing for a prediction of these channel features. For the modeling of the amplitudes of the SMCs, a data-driven approach has been proposed recently, using Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) to map and predict the SMC amplitudes. In this paper, the applicability of the proposed multipath-resolved, GPR-based channel model is analyzed by studying features of the propagation channel from a set of channel measurements. The features analyzed include the energy capture of the modeled SMCs, the number of resolvable SMCs, and the ranging information that could be extracted from the SMCs. The second contribution of the paper concerns the potential applicability of the channel model for a multipath-resolved, single-anchor positioning system. The predicted channel knowledge is used to evaluate the measurement likelihood function at candidate positions throughout the environment. It is shown that the environmental awareness created by the multipath-resolved, GPR-based channel model yields higher robustness against position estimation outliers

Soft information for localization-of-things

Location awareness is vital for emerging Internetof- Things applications and opens a new era for Localizationof- Things. This paper first reviews the classical localization techniques based on single-value metrics, such as range and angle estimates, and on fixed measurement models, such as Gaussian distributions with mean equal to the true value of the metric. Then, it presents a new localization approach based on soft information (SI) extracted from intra- and inter-node measurements, as well as from contextual data. In particular, efficient techniques for learning and fusing different kinds of SI are described. Case studies are presented for two scenarios in which sensing measurements are based on: 1) noisy features and non-line-of-sight detector outputs and 2) IEEE 802.15.4a standard. The results show that SI-based localization is highly efficient, can significantly outperform classical techniques, and provides robustness to harsh propagation conditions.RYC-2016-1938