ALTAIR: automatic location tracking system using active IR-tag

This paper proposes a new location-awareness system ALTAIR (automatic location tracking system using active IR-tag) that automatically detects and tracks the location of the mobile PC (personal computer) users. IR-tag (infrared) is a small electrical device to indicate its location by emitting IR light and reliable detected by a camera with IR-pass filter. IR-tag is installed on a mobile PC, which has wireless LAN (local area network) connection so that ALTAIR controls lighting pattern and activating time of individual IR-tag through the network. ALTAIR identifies visually detected position of the IR-tag with the IP (Internet protocol) address whom the system requires to change the lighting pattern. Utilizing DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol) service, ALTAIR stars to aware the position of the mobile PC user when he/she enters the area within ALTAIR´s coverage. Prototype ALTAIR shows the effective performance for tracking and recognizing multiple users´ positions in an office environment.