Self-Localization via Circular Bluetooth 5.1 Antenna Array Receiver

Abstract

Future telecommunications aim to be ubiquitous and efficient, as widely deployed connectivity will allow for a variety of edge/fog based services. Challenges are numerous, e.g., spectrum overuse, energy efficiency, latency and bandwidth, battery life and computing power of edge devices. Addressing these challenges is key to compose the backbone for the future Internet-of-Things (IoT). Among IoT applications are Indoor Positioning System and indoor Real-Time-Location-Systems systems, which are needed where GPS is unviable. The Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.1 specification introduced Direction Finding to the protocol, allowing for BLE devices with antenna arrays to derive the Angle-of-Arrival (AoA) of transmissions. Well known algorithms for AoA calculation are computationally demanding, so recent works have addressed this, since the low-cost of BLE devices may provide efficient solutions for indoor localization. In this paper, we present a system topology and algorithms for self-localization where a receiver with an antenna array utilizes the AoAs from fixed battery powered beacons to self-localize, without a centralized system or wall-power infrastructure. We conduct two main experiments using a BLE receiver of our own design. Firstly, we validate the expected behaviour in an anechoic chamber, computing the AoA with an RMSE of 10.7°. Secondly, we conduct a test in an outdoor area of 12 by 12 meters using four beacons, and present pre-processing steps prior to computing the AoAs, followed by position estimations achieving a mean absolute error of 3.6m for 21 map positions, with a minimum as low as 1.1m.