Comsis Introduce A Wi-Fi-Based Indoor Positioning System

February 22, 2013 – Comsis introduce a Wi-Fi-based indoor positioning system.

An indoor positioning system (IPS) is a network of devices used to determine the location of objects/people inside covered areas. Instead of the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, an IPS relies on nearby anchors (nodes with a known position), which either actively locate tags or provide environmental context for devices to sense.

A common IPS approach is to exploit the Wi-Fi fingerprint of the indoor environment. Wi-Fi fingerprint is simply the collection of relative strengths of the wireless signals present at different points of the indoor environment and it requires a site survey of the intended venue. This fingerprint constitutes the integral part of any Wi-Fi based localization system and has to be updated regularly.

Currently several indoor positioning technologies are publicly available from different vendors for smartphone users. These technologies use their software (Application) on the smartphone compare its readings with an online database which holds the fingerprint information as well as the architectural map of the venue to calculate the person’s/phone’s location. On the other hand such applications are not suitable for situations where the venue information should not be disclosed to the public. In such situations Comsis can provide tailor made IPS solutions for industrial entities where the venue information is kept with the customer.

Depending on the existing WLAN infrastructure at the indoor environment, Comsis’ IPS solution can locate any Wi-Fi equipped person/device with a resolution as fine as 2 meters. Furthermore, deployment of this system does not require significant infrastructure investment.