Trajectory-based localization using WiFi signal strength

Solution Inc. is a company that provides public access Wi-Fi management services for venues such as hotels,convention centres, stadiums, airports and hospitals. Locating clients through the handshake of their smartphones with Wi Fi access points is an emerging technology that could provide significant added value to theexisting Wi Fi infrastructure, by monitoring client movement patterns in space and making inferences on howthey use stores (in airports and hotels), booths (in convention centres), hospital services, origins anddestinations (passengers in airports). Mining such location data is very useful for better knowing facility users,planning services, marketing campaigns, and location-based services that are equivalent to those offered byGPS and Google Maps in open spaces. Existing localization methods are based on fingerprints, vectors ofsignal strengths of connections of a smartphone to access points within range. Using fingerprints showspromise in locating clients in regions of space by classifying a current fingerprint as being inside or outside agiven location, such as a store or waiting room. Signal strengths are too noisy to allow accurate localization viatriangulation. The proposed project will focus on the use of trajectory-based localization using WiFi signalstrengths: although signals strengths are too noisy for accurate localization, trajectories of clients in spaceimpose additional constraints on positions due to spatial and temporal continuity, and have the potential toprovide adequate accuracy for location-based services.