Tracking a moving user in indoor environments using Bluetooth low energy beacons.

Area of Science:

• Indoor positioning systems
• Wireless sensor networks
• Biomedical engineering

Background:

• Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons are utilized for indoor location tracking in clinical settings.
• Current methods primarily rely on Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), requiring laborious calibration due to environmental interference.
• An alternative, less calibration-intensive method for indoor location tracking is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate an alternative method for indoor location tracking using BLE beacons.
• To compare the performance of a novel Received Number of Signals Indicator (RNSI) method against the standard RSSI-based method.
• To evaluate the accuracy of both methods in dynamic indoor environments.

Main Methods:

• Developed and implemented a new indoor location tracking method based on RNSI.
• Compared RNSI with the traditional RSSI method using BLE beacons.
• Conducted experiments in an office and a tertiary hospital with a moving user, measuring location prediction accuracy.

Main Results:

• RNSI values demonstrated a more substantial decrease with distance compared to RSSI.
• The RNSI-based method achieved higher accuracy in the office environment (80.0%) versus RSSI (76.2%).
• In a hospital setting with signal interference, RNSI significantly outperformed RSSI (83.3% vs. 51.9%).

Conclusions:

• The RNSI-based method provides a viable alternative for tracking moving users indoors without complex calibration.
• RNSI shows promise for deployment in new environments and integration into more robust indoor positioning systems.