A Hybrid Indoor Localization Using Beacon Enabled Meshing and TOA in IEEE 802.15.4 Networks

Indoor localization is an emerging subject in the field of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and even more in wireless mesh networks (WMNs). Off the shelf solutions are still missing, even though the new IEEE 802.15.4a/ZigBee standard enhances the precision of ranging. This paper describes a hybrid localization approach combining time of arrival trilateration (TOA) as being proposed in the IEEE 802.15.4a and standard meshing aspects of the IEEE802.15/TG5. The evaluation is done in a multi-scalar simulation environment which models mobility, radio channel properties, protocol interaction and their cross effects simultaneously. This enables the use of realistic scenarios in which the performance of the localization method can be compared to existing approaches on a fair and reliable basis. The hybrid approach shows a significant precision and reliability gain while the installation effort and protocol overhead is kept at a very reasonable level.