Many technologies have claimed to have solved indoor positioning. In theory, they might work but in practice, they have not. Faulty systems have damaged the view on indoor positioning, creating a common opinion that a real, working solution isn’t out there. We see three key challenges to making indoor positioning work: accurate positioning, range, and penetration.
AN ACCURATE POSITIONING RESULT IS KEY TO CUSTOMER ACCEPTANCE IN IOT
Many past deployments have suffered from lack of accuracy, especially in resolving asset location between floors in a multi-level building environment. This defeats the purpose of installing the system in the first instance. Additional sensor technologies embedded inside the asset tag can help resolve this issue, along with a correct selection of distance measuring methodology over the wireless network.
TO IMPLEMENT A MANAGEABLE INDOOR POSITIONING NETWORK RANGE IS IMPORTANT
Secondly, the system must have sufficient range. Short range system requires a lot of beacons and that has a number of consequences. It means the system will need extensive calibration and maintenance. The setup cost and operating cost will be high even if the tags are cheap. The result is thus an expensive and difficult-to-manage system.
SIGNAL PENETRATION IS KEY TO ACCOMPLISH FULL COVERAGE FOR INDOOR TRACKING
Last but not least the signal penetration is important. Signal penetration together with long-range signals enables complete coverage of the premises. Current solutions may lose track of the tags behind doors, under tables or around corners. Even if a vast network is built there are still no guarantees signals won’t be lost as long as the signal won’t penetrate walls.
CONCLUSION
The requirements of an indoor positioning system that actually works are thus accurate positioning, long range, and penetrating signals. If this is in place you can have a working, affordable and manageable indoor positioning system.
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