A Hybrid Outdoor/Indoor Positioning System for IoT Applications

Motivated by the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), and by the importance that location information has on many complex systems scenarios, we propose a hybrid scheme for user positioning in an urban scenario. The system uses both a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and a Magnetic Positioning System (MPS). To maintain receiver complexity and cost at a minimum, the location scheme combines the MPS technique and GNSS measurements. A Kalman filter algorithm is used as the data integration mechanism over the time axis. Results demonstrate that the use of a local MPS provides increased location coverage, without service interruptions, when the number of visible satellites is inadequate. The obtained accuracy in the indoor environment is better than meter-level, thus fulfilling the requirements of many hybrid outdoor/indoor positioning applications.