RSS-based indoor localization with PDR location tracking for wireless sensor networks

Traditional indoor localization techniques typically rely on a single communication source such as RF signals, ultrasound, inertial sensors, and geomagnetic fields. In wireless sensor network (WSN), received signal strength (RSS) based approach is one of the most commonly used localization techniques. It is simple to implement and costly efficient, but the estimation accuracy is significantly reduced in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions. pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) uses inertial measurement unit (IMU) for location tracking. Its tracking accuracy is not affected by the interference in NLOS conditions, but the location error is accumulated in long distance tracking. We propose the RSS-based indoor localization algorithm combined with PDR location tracking for wireless sensor networks. The objective is to compensate the NLOS localization error by using PDR, while mitigating the accumulated error of PDR by using RSS-based localization method in LOS conditions. Lab scale experiment and large scale simulation results show that the proposed algorithm significantly reduce the location estimation errors in wireless sensor networks.