An innovative gateway for indoor positioning

Abstract

Enabling the pervasive paradigm requires the incorporation of location information. Retrieving location data has been a field of ongoing research for both the outdoor and indoor wireless systems. The results in the cellular scenario are already mature and location architectures have been standardized. Recent research is ongoing for indoor-positioning mechanisms, resulting in implementations that vary. A platform that enables the deployment of location-based services in heterogeneous indoor and WLAN-based communication systems will address difficulties in cooperating with different positioning systems. For that purpose, we have designed a novel entity, called Gateway WLAN Location Center (GWLC), which hides the heterogeneous functions of the indoor positioning architectures, incorporating a unified framework for retrieving location data of users and objects. The GWLC platform has been designed to meet objectives such as modularity, scalability, as well as portability, and to facilitate open interfaces. In this contribution, we elaborate on the design principles and the functionality of GWLC. We also provide performance results, obtained through real experiments. Copyright © 2006 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.