A survey of fuzzy logic in wireless localization

Positioning and location estimation of targets either for mobile or stationary nodes is very important, especially after the astonishing developments of the wired and/or wireless communications, as well as the popularity of handheld devices. To assist in accessing services or managing resources, numerous users, application developers, and service providers require accurate position information. Owing to the boom of multisensory systems, wireless technology, and autonomous systems, many positioning systems have been proposed. These positioning systems differ based on the adopted technology, type of sensory information, communication protocol, algorithm, and accuracy level. These different approaches impose a non-negligible amount of uncertainty and challenges; in such case, fuzzy-logic-based localization systems offer an attractive and feasible approach to overcome some of the reported challenges and handle uncertainties, depending on its proven mathematical framework for handling vagueness and uncertainty. Intuitively, fuzzy sets and fuzzy inference systems are initially intended to incorporate granularity and flexibility of human knowledge, which characterize complex system behaviors without explicitly requiring precise mathematical models or when a complete and exhaustive list of comprehending factors are ill known. This study demonstrates the benefits of fuzzy sets, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy inference systems in wireless positioning problems. Notably, as a way to benefit both the academic community and practitioners of system positioning, we review and investigate various fuzzy-related techniques and methodologies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive review that focuses solely on fuzzy-based positioning systems.