UWB-based Single-anchor Low-cost Indoor Localization System

In this demo, we present a low-cost indoor localization system based on the off-the-shelf ultra-wideband transceiver Decawave DW1000. To obtain an accurate position information, the system makes use of a single anchor and of multipath reflections from walls, hence removing the need of installing a network of anchors or any other additional infrastructure. The procedure of determining the position of a tag can be divided in four consecutive stages. First, the location of virtual anchors is computed by mirroring the anchor position at reflective surfaces. Using two-way ranging, the distance and channel impulse response (CIR) between anchor and tag is obtained. This actual CIR is compared with expected CIRs from possible tag locations using a maximum likelihood approach to estimate the tag's position. Finally, a switchable directional antenna can be exploited to improve the robustness of the system by suppressing undesired, interfering multipath components. By following this procedure, the proposed system can achieve a decimeter accuracy and react to position updates in real-time.