Time reversal-based indoor positioning system (TRIPS) is a promising technology for the centimeter-accuracy indoor positioning, since it exploits the rich multipath propagation in indoor environments as a specific signature for each location. In TRIPS, a database is first constructed via channel probing. Well-calibrated devices are usually assumed in this process, i.e., no hardware impairments. However, a low cost terminal to be located, whose typical impairment is the I/Q imbalance (IQI) at the front-end transmitter, can significantly influence the TRIPS performance. More specifically, IQI creates an interference image of the signal that reduces the metric value used in TRIPS and hence decreases the localization accuracy. In this paper, we analytically investigate the impact of the IQI on the metric of TRIPS. A closed-form approximation of the localization metric inherent to the IQI is derived. In order to improve the TRIPS performance, an effective IQI mitigation method is proposed. Numerical simulations are carried out to validate the derived analytical expression under the IQI impact and the proposed compensation method.
