Performance evaluation of a TOA-based trilateration method to locate terminals in WLAN

Abstract

Nowadays, several systems are available for outdoor localization, such as GPS, assisted GPS and other systems working on cellular networks. However, there is no proper location system for indoor scenarios. Research into designing location systems for 802.11 networks is being carried out, so locating mobile devices on global networks (GSM/cellular + GPS + WLAN) finally seems feasible. The technique presented in this paper uses existing wireless LAN infrastructure with minor changes to provide an accurate estimation of the location of mobile devices in indoor environments. This technique is based on round-trip time (RTT) measurements, which are used to estimate distances between the device to be located and WLAN access points. Each RTT measurement estimates the time elapsed between the RTS (Request-to-Send) and the CTS (Clear-to-Send) frame of the 802.11 standard. By applying trilateration algorithms, an accurate estimation of the mobile position is calculated.