Deploying a BTLE positioning system: Practical issues on calibration

Abstract

Nowadays, the Bluetooth Low-Energy (BTLE) technology is integrated in numerous smartphones and beacons, but there is still an open challenge on delivering a presence-into-zone positioning system that facilitates the design and reconfiguration of the service zones and offers stable target tracking. In this paper, we report the experience gained from the deployment of a BTLE zone-based positioning system in a retail setting with defined service objectives. The algorithm powering the positioning system requires previous calibration, which comes to be a tedious and long invasive process when it is accomplished in a space with high people flow. The paper describes our work to minimize the calibration effort, by analyzing the effect of calibration samples reduction and proposing the application of a on-the-move calibration strategy that facilitates the calibration dynamics preserving the system's correct recognition rate.