Factor Optimization for the Design of Indoor Positioning Systems Using a Probability-Based Algorithm

Indoor Positioning Systems (IPSs) are designed to provide solutions for location-based services. Wireless local area network (WLAN)-based positioning systems are the most widespread around the globe and are commonly found to have a ready-to-use infrastructure composed mostly of access points (APs). They advertise useful information, such as the received signal strength (RSS), that is processed by adequate location algorithms, which are not always capable of achieving the desired localization error only by themselves. In this sense, this paper proposes a new method to improve the accuracy of IPSs by optimizing the arrangement of APs over the environment using an enhanced probability-based algorithm. From the assumption that a log-distance path loss model can reasonably describe, on average, the distribution of RSS throughout the environment, we build a simulation framework to analyze the impact, on the accuracy, of the main factors that constitute the positioning algorithm, such as the number of reference points (RPs) and the number of samples of RSS collected per test point. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed solution, a real-world testbed dataset is used for validation. The obtained results for accuracy show that the trends verified via simulation strongly correlate to the verified in the dataset processing when allied with an optimal configuration of APs. This indicates our method is capable of providing an optimal factor combination—through early simulations—for the design of more efficient IPSs that rely on a probability-based positioning algorithm.