skip to main content
10.1145/3117811.3117840acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagesmobicomConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

RF-Echo: A Non-Line-of-Sight Indoor Localization System Using a Low-Power Active RF Reflector ASIC Tag

Published: 04 October 2017 Publication History

Abstract

Long-range low-power localization is a key technology that enables a host of new applications of wireless sensor nodes. We present RF-Echo, a new low-power RF localization solution that achieves decimeter accuracy in long range indoor non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios. RF-Echo introduces a custom-designed active RF reflector ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) fabricated in a 180nm CMOS process which echoes a frequency-shifted orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal originally generated from an anchor. The proposed technique is based on time-of-flight (ToF) estimation in the frequency domain that effectively eliminates inter-carrier and inter-symbol interference in multipath-rich indoor NLOS channels. RF-Echo uses a relatively narrow bandwidth of $\leq$80 MHz which does not require an expensive very high sampling rate analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Unlike ultra-wideband (UWB) systems, the active reflection scheme is designed to operate at a relatively low carrier frequency that can penetrate building walls and other blocking objects for challenging NLOS scenarios. Since the bandwidth at lower frequencies (2.4 GHz and sub-1 GHz) is severely limited, we propose novel signal processing algorithms as well as machine learning techniques to significantly enhance the localization resolution given the bandwidth constraint of the proposed system. The newly fabricated tag IC consumes 62.8 mW active power. The software defined radio (SDR) based anchor prototype is rapidly deployable without the need for accurate synchronization among anchors and tags. Field trials conducted in a university building confirm up to 85 m operation with decimeter accuracy for robust 2D localization.

References

[1]
Time Domain PulsON 400 RCM. Online.
[2]
F. Adib, Z. Kabelac, D. Katabi, and R. C. Miller. 3d tracking via body radio reflections. In Proceedings of the 11th USENIX Conference on Networked Systems Design and Implementation, NSDI'14, pages 317--329, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2014. USENIX Association.
[3]
K. Benkic, M. Malajner, P. Planinsic, and Z. Cucej. Using rssi value for distance estimation in wireless sensor networks based on zigbee. In 2008 15th International Conference on Systems, Signals and Image Processing, pages 303--306, June 2008.
[4]
D. Bharadia, E. McMilin, and S. Katti. Full duplex radios. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM 2013 Conference on SIGCOMM, pages 375--386, New York, NY, USA, 2013. ACM.
[5]
M. S. Brandstein, J. E. Adcock, and H. F. Silverman. A closed-form location estimator for use with room environment microphone arrays. Speech and Audio Processing, IEEE Transactions on, 5(1):45--50, 1997.
[6]
L. Breiman. Bagging predictors. Mach. Learn., 24(2):123--140, Aug. 1996.
[7]
G. M. Brooker. Understanding millimetre wave fmcw radars.
[8]
R. Bucher and D. Misra. A synthesizable VHDL model of the exact solution for three-dimensional hyperbolic positioning system. Vlsi Design, 15(2):507--520, 2002.
[9]
Y. Chan and K. Ho. A simple and efficient estimator for hyperbolic location. Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on, 42(8):1905--1915, 1994.
[10]
H. C. Chen, T. H. Lin, H. T. Kung, C. K. Lin, and Y. Gwon. Determining rf angle of arrival using cots antenna arrays: A field evaluation. In MILCOM 2012 - 2012 IEEE Military Communications Conference, pages 1--6, Oct 2012.
[11]
H. S. Chen, H. Y. Tsai, L. X. Chuo, Y. K. Tsai, and L. H. Lu. A 5.2-ghz full-integrated rf front-end by t/r switch, lna, and pa co-design with 3.2-db nf and
[12]
25.9-dbm output power. In 2015 IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference (A-SSCC), pages 1--4, Nov 2015.
[13]
DecaWave. Application note: APS007. Online.
[14]
DecaWave. ScenSor DW1000. Online.
[15]
E. Elnahrawy, J. Austen-Francisco, and R. P. Ma. Adding angle of arrival modality to basic rss location management techniques. In 2007 2nd International Symposium on Wireless Pervasive Computing, Feb 2007.
[16]
S. Gezici, Z. Tian, G. B. Giannakis, H. Kobayashi, A. F. Molisch, H. V. Poor, and Z. Sahinoglu. Localization via ultra-wideband radios: a look at positioning aspects for future sensor networks. IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, 22(4):70--84, July 2005.
[17]
GNU Radio Website. Online, accessed December 2014.
[18]
I. Goodfellow, Y. Bengio, and A. Courville. Deep Learning. MIT Press, 2016.
[19]
D. Halperin, B. Greenstein, A. Sheth, and D. Wetherall. Demystifying 802.11n power consumption. In Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on Power Aware Computing and Systems, HotPower'10, pages 1--, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2010. USENIX Association.
[20]
H. G. Han, B. G. Yu, and T. W. Kim. 19.6 a 1.9mm-precision 20gs/s real-time sampling receiver using time-extension method for indoor localization. In 2015 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference - (ISSCC) Digest of Technical Papers, pages 1--3, Feb 2015.
[21]
International Telecommunication Union. Propagation data and prediction methods for the planning of indoor radiocommunication systems and radio local area networks in the frequency range 900 MHz to 100 GHz. Online.
[22]
E. Kaplan and C. Hegarty. Understanding GPS: principles and applications. Artech house, 2005.
[23]
B. Kempke, P. Pannuto, and P. Dutta. Polypoint: Guiding indoor quadrotors with ultra-wideband localization. In Proceedings of the 2Nd International Workshop on Hot Topics in Wireless, HotWireless '15, pages 16--20, New York, NY, USA, 2015. ACM.
[24]
B. Kempke, P. Pannuto, and P. Dutta. Harmonium: Asymmetric, bandstitched uwb for fast, accurate, and robust indoor localization. In 2016 15th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN), pages 1--12, April 2016.
[25]
S. Kumar, S. Gil, D. Katabi, and D. Rus. Accurate indoor localization with zero start-up cost. In Proceedings of the 20th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking, MobiCom '14, pages 483--494, New York, NY, USA, 2014. ACM.
[26]
Z. Li, W. Dehaene, and G. Gielen. A 3-tier uwb-based indoor localization system for ultra-low-power sensor networks. IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 8(6):2813--2818, June 2009.
[27]
R. v. Nee and R. Prasad. OFDM for Wireless Multimedia Communications. Artech House, Inc., Norwood, MA, USA, 1st edition, 2000.
[28]
R. P and M. L. Sichitiu. Angle of arrival localization for wireless sensor networks. In 2006 3rd Annual IEEE Communications Society on Sensor and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks, volume 1, pages 374--382, Sept 2006.
[29]
C. Papamanthou, F. P. Preparata, and R. Tamassia. Algorithmic aspects of wireless sensor networks. chapter Algorithms for Location Estimation Based on RSSI Sampling, pages 72--86. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2008.
[30]
T. Rappaport. Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice. Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA, 2nd edition, 2001.
[31]
B. Razavi. RF Microelectronics. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA, 1998.
[32]
T. Redant, T. Ayhan, N. D. Clercq, M. Verhelst, P. Reynaert, and W. Dehaene. 20.1 a 40nm cmos receiver for 60ghz discrete-carrier indoor localization achieving mm-precision at 4m range. In 2014 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference Digest of Technical Papers (ISSCC), pages 342--343, Feb 2014.
[33]
E. Saberinia and A. H. Tewfik. Enhanced localization in wireless personal area networks. In Global Telecommunications Conference, 2004. GLOBECOM '04. IEEE, volume 4, pages 2429--2434 Vol.4, Nov 2004.
[34]
T. Sathyan, D. Humphrey, and M. Hedley. WASP: A system and algorithms for accurate radio localization using low-cost hardware. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics -- Part C, 41(2), Mar. 2011.
[35]
M. Saxena, P. Gupta, and B. N. Jain. Experimental analysis of rssi-based location estimation in wireless sensor networks. In Communication Systems Software and Middleware and Workshops, 2008. COMSWARE 2008. 3rd International Conference on, pages 503--510, Jan 2008.
[36]
SBX 120 Daughterboard, Ettus Research LLC. Online.
[37]
A. G. Stove. Linear fmcw radar techniques. IEE Proceedings F - Radar and Signal Processing, 139(5):343--350, Oct 1992.
[38]
A. Tang, G. Virbila, D. Murphy, F. Hsiao, Y. H. Wang, Q. J. Gu, Z. Xu, Y. Wu, M. Zhu, and M. C. F. Chang. A 144ghz 0.76cm-resolution sub-carrier sar phase radar for 3d imaging in 65nm cmos. In 2012 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, pages 264--266, Feb 2012.
[39]
D. Z. Thai, M. Trinkle, A. Hashemi-Sakhtsari, and T. Pattison. Speaker localisation using time difference of arrival. Technical report, DTIC Document, 2008.
[40]
Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP), Ettus Research LLC. Online.
[41]
D. Vasisht, S. Kumar, and D. Katabi. Decimeter-level localization with a single wifi access point. In 13th USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI 16), pages 165--178, Santa Clara, CA, 2016. USENIX Assoc.
[42]
M. Verhelst, N. V. Helleputte, G. Gielen, and W. Dehaene. A reconfigurable, 0.13um cmos 110pj/pulse, fully integrated ir-uwb receiver for communication and sub-cm ranging. In 2009 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference - Digest of Technical Papers, pages 250--251,251a, Feb 2009.
[43]
J. Wang and D. Katabi. Dude, where's my card?: Rfid positioning that works with multipath and non-line of sight. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM 2013 Conference on SIGCOMM, pages 51--62, New York, NY, USA, 2013. ACM.
[44]
K. Wu, J. Xiao, Y. Yi, M. Gao, and L. M. Ni. Fila: Fine-grained indoor localization. In 2012 Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM, pages 2210--2218, March 2012.
[45]
J. Xiong and K. Jamieson. Arraytrack: A fine-grained indoor location system. In Proceedings of the 10th USENIX Conference on Networked Systems Design and Implementation, nsdi'13, pages 71--84, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2013. USENIX Association.
[46]
L. Yang, Y. Chen, X.-Y. Li, C. Xiao, M. Li, and Y. Liu. Tagoram: Real-time tracking of mobile rfid tags to high precision using cots devices. In Proceedings of the 20th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking, MobiCom '14, pages 237--248, New York, NY, USA, 2014. ACM.
[47]
G. Zanca, F. Zorzi, A. Zanella, and M. Zorzi. Experimental comparison of rssi-based localization algorithms for indoor wireless sensor networks. In Proceedings of the Workshop on Real-world Wireless Sensor Networks, REALWSN '08, pages 1--5, New York, NY, USA, 2008. ACM.
[48]
Y. Zheng, M. A. Arasu, K. W. Wong, Y. J. The, A. P. H. Suan, D. D. Tran, W. G. Yeoh, and D. L. Kwong. A 0.18um cmos 802.15.4a uwb transceiver for communication and localization. In 2008 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference - Digest of Technical Papers, pages 118--600, Feb 2008.

Cited By

View all
  • (2024)ScribeProceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies10.1145/36314117:4(1-31)Online publication date: 12-Jan-2024
  • (2024)Tracking the Occluded Indoor Target With Scattered Millimeter Wave SignalIEEE Sensors Journal10.1109/JSEN.2024.344727124:22(38102-38112)Online publication date: 15-Nov-2024
  • (2024)A Wireless Self-Service System for Library Using Commodity RFID DevicesIEEE Internet of Things Journal10.1109/JIOT.2023.330146211:3(4998-5010)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2024
  • Show More Cited By

Recommendations

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Conferences
MobiCom '17: Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking
October 2017
628 pages
ISBN:9781450349161
DOI:10.1145/3117811
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Sponsors

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 04 October 2017

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Check for updates

Author Tags

  1. ASIC
  2. RF reflection
  3. indoor localization
  4. multipath
  5. neural network classification
  6. non line-of-sight
  7. time-of-arrival

Qualifiers

  • Research-article

Funding Sources

  • Terraswarm
  • NIST PSIAP

Conference

MobiCom '17
Sponsor:

Acceptance Rates

MobiCom '17 Paper Acceptance Rate 35 of 186 submissions, 19%;
Overall Acceptance Rate 440 of 2,972 submissions, 15%

Contributors

Other Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

  • Downloads (Last 12 months)48
  • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)2
Reflects downloads up to 20 Feb 2025

Other Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all
  • (2024)ScribeProceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies10.1145/36314117:4(1-31)Online publication date: 12-Jan-2024
  • (2024)Tracking the Occluded Indoor Target With Scattered Millimeter Wave SignalIEEE Sensors Journal10.1109/JSEN.2024.344727124:22(38102-38112)Online publication date: 15-Nov-2024
  • (2024)A Wireless Self-Service System for Library Using Commodity RFID DevicesIEEE Internet of Things Journal10.1109/JIOT.2023.330146211:3(4998-5010)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2024
  • (2023)High-resolution TOF Measurement between Asynchronous Nodes Based on Vernier Effect非同期端末間でのバーニア効果による高分解能TOF計測Transactions of the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers10.9746/sicetr.59.2659:1(26-36)Online publication date: 2023
  • (2023)BLEselectProceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies10.1145/35694826:4(1-28)Online publication date: 11-Jan-2023
  • (2023)A Generalized Method to Combat Multipaths for RFID SensingIEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking10.1109/TNET.2022.319086231:1(336-351)Online publication date: Feb-2023
  • (2023)TriLoc: Toward Accurate Indoor Localization With Assistance of Microwave ReflectionsIEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques10.1109/TMTT.2022.322634271:6(2734-2747)Online publication date: Jun-2023
  • (2023)Computer Vision Based Auto-ID for Optimizing Logistics Operations2023 IEEE International Conference on Omni-layer Intelligent Systems (COINS)10.1109/COINS57856.2023.10189304(1-6)Online publication date: 23-Jul-2023
  • (2023)CSI Localization for Large-Scale DeploymentWireless Localization Techniques10.1007/978-3-031-21178-2_5(269-348)Online publication date: 11-Jan-2023
  • (2022)Ultra Low-Latency Backscatter for Fast-Moving Location TrackingProceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies10.1145/35172426:1(1-22)Online publication date: 29-Mar-2022
  • Show More Cited By

View Options

Login options

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

PDF

eReader

View online with eReader.

eReader

EPUB

View this article in ePub.

ePub

Figures

Tables

Media

Share

Share

Share this Publication link

Share on social media