On the performance of mobile terminal tracking in urban GSM networks using particle filters

A particle filter (PF) and a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter (RBPF) are proposed for mobile terminal tracking in the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network based on received signal level and timing advance measurements. The proposed PF and RBPF are able to cope with errors due to non-line-of-sight propagation, which are modelled as non-Gaussian disturbances. The proposed algorithms have been tested on synthetic and “real world” GSM measurements, and their enhanced performance compared to an extended Kalman filter is shown.