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. 2023 Oct 20;23(20):8598.
doi: 10.3390/s23208598.

On Indoor Localization Using WiFi, BLE, UWB, and IMU Technologies

Samuel G Leitch  1 , Qasim Zeeshan Ahmed  1 , Waqas Bin Abbas  2 , Maryam Hafeez  1 , Pavlos I Laziridis  1 , Pradorn Sureephong  3 , Temitope Alade  4
Affiliations

On Indoor Localization Using WiFi, BLE, UWB, and IMU Technologies

Samuel G Leitch et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Indoor localization is a key research area and has been stated as a major goal for Sixth Generation (6G) communications. Indoor localization faces many challenges, such as harsh wireless propagation channels, cluttered and dynamic environments, non-line-of-sight conditions, etc. There are various technologies that can be applied to address these issues. In this paper, four major technologies for implementing an indoor localization system are reviewed: Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Ultra-Wide Bandwidth Radio (UWB), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Inertial Measurement Units (IMU). Sections on Data Fusion (DF) and Machine Learning (ML) have been included as well due to their key role in Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS). These technologies have been categorized based on the techniques that they employ and the associated errors in localization. A brief comparison between these technologies is made based on specific performance metrics. Finally, the limitations of these techniques are identified to aid future research.

Keywords: 6G; BLE; IMU; PDR; UWB; data fusion; indoor localization; wi-fi.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Documents per year for different indoor positioning technologies. Results obtained from Scopus.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Visual comparison of the performance of different techniques within each technology covered: (a) WiFi, (b) UWB, (c) BLE, (d) IMU.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Visual comparison of the performance of different techniques within each technology covered: (a) WiFi, (b) UWB, (c) BLE, (d) IMU.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The general structure of an ANN.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of different ML models trained to perform LoS determination on a synthetic BLE AoA dataset.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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