Indoor positioning using Wi-Fi lateration — Comparison of two common range conversion models with two novel differential approaches

For Wi-Fi positioning usually location fingerprinting or lateration are employed. This study deals with lateration. Two new differential approaches are developed and compared to two standard models. The two novel methods are termed DWi-Fi as they are derived either from the well-known DGPS or VLBI positioning principles. In the practical applications, static and kinematic tests with three different smartphones are conducted in a test site covering different areas on the ground floor of a multi-storey office building. Large spatial and temporal variations of the Wi-Fi signals can be taken into account if differential corrections from reference stations in the area of interest are applied. It could be proven that the two DWi-Fi approaches outperform the standard models as positioning accuracies can be increased significantly.