Locating WiFi access points in indoor environments using non-monotonic signal propagation model

Abstract

In this paper it is shown that the widely used lognormal path loss signal propagation model may not be a good choice for every indoor environment. Instead, a non-monotonic signal propagation model for an indoor environment is presented. This model, combined with received signal strength values, relative distance and directional information can exhibit several applications. As an example, access point position estimation is studied in this paper and an algorithm is proposed for this purpose. It is shown that using relative distance, directional information and an arbitrary reference point, it is possible to find the relative location of access points. The performance of proposed model and algorithm is tested by real data and computer simulation.