Overview of Approaches for Device Heterogeneity Management During Indoor Localization

Abstract

With the increasing demand for indoor location-based services (LBS), indoor positioning technology, especially the received signal strength (RSS)-based positioning technology, has attracted extensive attention. In the process of localization, the difference in RSS caused by heterogeneity between different devices cannot be ignored. It leads to the degradation of positioning accuracy. A comprehensive overview of device heterogeneity management methods in indoor positioning is presented in this chapter to deliver a superior solution. An analysis of the causes of device heterogeneity is conducted at the hardware and communication layers. The existing methods to deal with the device heterogeneity are summarized. The approaches for dealing with device heterogeneity are divided into three categories based on the development of technology. The methods are adjustment approach based on linear transformation, calibration-free function mapping method, and non-absolute fingerprint method, respectively. The principles of the implementation for these methods are presented in this chapter. Different evaluation metrics are utilized to participate in the comparison of these methods. The advantages and issues are summarized. Also, the future research trends are proposed at the end of this chapter.