An iBeacon-based indoor and outdoor positioning system for the fire emergency command

The real-time tracking of indoor locations for firefighters and trapped people is key information for the fire emergency command, especially in high-rise buildings or complex buildings. An enhanced iBeacon-based indoor positioning system is proposed in this paper to solve the indoor positioning problem for the fire emergency command. A fire emergency command platform is developed based on this iBeacon-based indoor positioning system. The key issues for the fire emergency command are solved in this platform, including tracking and visualization of the indoor and outdoor positioning for firefighters and trapped people and information sharing and synchronization among different systems such as the firemen handheld terminals, the command platforms in the command center and the mobile command platforms. The results show that the positional accuracy can reach approximately 3 meters. The iBeacon station used in this paper can operate for 3 years based on its battery life, which suggests that the developed platform can provide real-time indoor and outdoor positioning services and mapping services for the fire emergency command rescue after the fire occurs. Therefore, the fire commander can now determine whether there are firefighters who are trapped or lost in the fire by monitoring their real-time positions.