Exploiting EM simulation modelling for wireless indoor localization

The diffusion of indoor wireless localization has grown rapidly in last years. Many indoor location-based services have been proposed thanks to the knowledge of real-time position of active targets (i.e., using mobile wireless devices like smartphones and tablets). Most of the localization approaches rely on the processing of radio-frequency signals transmitted among the wireless access points of local area networks and the mobile terminals. This research field is very active since improved performance in terms of accuracy of the position estimation are still required. In this paper, an active wireless localization approach based on the accurate modelling of the electromagnetic propagation of Wi-Fi signals is proposed. A ray-tracing propagation model has been integrated in the customized localization tool to provide real-time estimation of the target position. The proposed approach has been experimentally validated in a real indoor test site.