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IoT-based System for Indoor Location using Bluetooth Low Energy

Conference Paper · August 2017

DOI: 10.1109/ColComCon.2017.8088211

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 IoT-based System for Indoor Location using Bluetooth Low Energy
Marco Terán, Juan Aranda and Henry Carrillo
Escuela de Ciencias Exactas e Ingeniería
Universidad Sergio Arboleda - Bogotá, Colombia
{marco.teran, juan.aranda, henry.carrillo}@usa.edu.co
Abstract—This paper presents the design and implementation
of an Internet of Thing (IoT)-based system for indoor local-
ization using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. Our
solution consists of two main systems: an acquisition system
and a central server, under the Client-Server paradigm and
the IoT philosophy. We report the development of different
modules: measurement (Bluetooth beacons), data aggregation
and transmission, storage, web-interface and cloud services for
data, and results visualization. The localization mechanism of
the proposed system is based on a simple location algorithm
stemming from the Received Signal Strength (RSS) footprinting
method, which allow us to detect reference zones inside closed
environments. We performed real experiments in order to
assess the proposed system. This paper reports the design,
implementation and evaluation of an IoT-based system for
indoor location using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology.
Keywords:—Embedded System, Internet of Things, LBS, Wire-
less Communication, Micro-localization, BLE.
1. Introduction
Internet of Things is a new technological paradigm that is
changing our lives. It consists of a system of systems of bil-
lions of smart physical and virtual objects, uniquely identi-
fied over Internet, with sensing, processing, and communica-
tion capabilities. A basic IoT-based system encompasses four
main modules: 1) Sensing (capturing physical variables), 2)
Embedded Systems (interfacing and processing), 3) Data
Communication (connectivity), and 4) Data Analytic (getting
insights). IoT-based systems can be applied in different
sectors, such as: agriculture, military, health, logistics, gov-
ernments, among others. As well, IoT is used in conjunction
with other technologies such as: Simultaneous localization
and mapping (SLAM) [1], robotic calibration [2], Control
Theory [3], among others.
Nowadays, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies [4]
[5] are currently used to provide location-based services
(LBS), but these technologies often do not meet minimum
application requirements. GPS stops working on indoors
environments. RFID, despite its low cost, does not have
978-1-5386-1060-2/17/$31.00 ⃝
c 2017 IEEE
Diego Mendez and Carlos Parra
Department of Electronics Engineering
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana - Bogotá, Colombia
{diego-mendez, carlos.parra}@javeriana.edu.co
enough bandwidth for large-scale LBS. Today, there is a
demand of precise positioning, both for indoor and out-
door environments, using radio frequency (RF) signals and
wireless networks. Although, an indoor positioning system
with RF signals presents challenges to carry out estima-
tions for positioning, due to factors involved in the signal
propagation, which depends on the environmental features.
These challenges can be mitigated using RSS power-based
localization techniques, which are based on the attenuation
of RF signals, as they propagate throughout the environment,
and on theoretical and empirical models [6] [7].
Indoor positioning is a very interesting and actual topic
for the IoT. There are many researchers working on this field.
Inoue et al. [8], for example, proposed a system for indoor
positioning navigation using mobile phones. They developed
a mobile application using wireless communication via bea-
con devices with low power consumption. After that, the
authors tested a fingerprint technique to perform position
calculations. Finally, they used a particle filter technique
to refine the results and reduce the ambiguity in the mea-
surements. LaMarca et al. [9] presented the results of the
development of an indoor positioning system using beacons
in an indoor environment. They used beacons in the IEE
802.11, Bluetooth [10] and GSM frequency bands. In [11]
was performed an analysis of the relationship between the
RSS indicator (RSSI) of the signal and the distance from
the signal emission source. Finally, the implementation of
BLE technologies for positioning is still under study and is
completely new. Many of the solutions proposed in the state-
of-the-art are simulated, in few cases, real measurements are
obtained [12]. Our project implements some of technologies
mentioned in the proposed articles and closed the IoT cycle
for this type of positioning applications.
In this paper, we present the design and implementation
of a IoT-based system for indoor location application, us-
ing LBS and RSS-based localization technique, to identify
places inside closed environments, such as, specific stores
inside malls. The rest of the paper is organized as follows.
Section 2 presents a modular IoT-based architecture solution
for indoor positioning applications. Next, a test-bed for
architecture validation is described. We continue with the
experimental results and analysis in section 3. Finally, we
conclude the paper and briefly discuss some future guide-
lines to continue our work.
2. IoT-based system solution
2.1. Architecture
We propose a general architecture for the identification
of reference stations in indoor environments with two main
systems: Acquisition and Central Server. The acquisition
system is responsible for the acquisition of RF signals,
through the BLE Technology [10], and performs some pre-
processing and data aggregation (e.g. RSS identification and
data frame construction). This, in turn, transmits the sensed
data, via wireless technology, to the Central server system
which implements a local storage database and a local web
interface to display the raw and processed data stored in the
database. The central server system is in charge of executing
the localization algorithm, storing results in the database, and
transferring them to a cloud service to perform data analytic
and to allow data access and visualization from any device
that has a web-browser and Internet connection.
In Figure 1 is shown a general block diagram of the
proposed architecture for LBS solutions based on the IoT
philosophy with some proposed hardware and software com-
ponents, which are detailed in the next section.
2.2. Modular Design
The proposed general architecture was designed from an
IoT modular perspective (Figure 1). Each system is com-
posed of modules that fulfill a specific function within the
architecture. Below are detailed each module by specifying
the hardware and software that compose them.
2.2.1. Acquisition system. Figure 3 presents the functional
model for the Acquisition system, and below, we briefly
describe its modules.
• Sensing: This module is responsible for acquiring and
sending power values (i.e., RSSI) according to the
proximity of a Bluetooth beacon. This module needs
a receiver based on BLE technology and some Blue-
tooth scanner software (e.g., PyBluez). Nowadays, there
are several commercially available BLE beacons, e.g.,
Aruba, Nordic or Estimote beacons.
• Data aggregation: The functionalities and application
processes of the acquisition system are implemented
in embedded platforms–with modest computational and
connectivity capacities–, such as Intel Edison, Rasp-
berry pi, among others. In our proposed architecture, we
developed custom software for beacons identification,
data aggregation, and reference station localization. The
Bluetooth scanner software is in charge of identify-
ing beacons inside an indoor environment, through the
BLE technology, available on the embedded platform.
A second software extracts the RSSI value of each
identified beacon, and performs data aggregation, i.e, it
encapsulates on a data frame. We defined and coded a
data frame in the following format: ID | RSSI_VALUE
| HHMMSS, where ID is the beacon identification;
RSSI_VALUE, the received signal strength indication;
and HHMMSS, the timestamp when the RSSI value
was received. It contains the information of all beacons
identified by the acquisition system.
• Data transmission (socket module): This module
provides connectivity to the central server and some
modules. As we mentioned before, in our architecture,
we used the BLE technology to provide connectivity be-
tween the sensing module and beacons (sensor nodes).
The data frame built by the data aggregation module is
transferred to the Central server system via WiFi TCP
sockets.
2.2.2. Central server. Figure 2 shows the functional model
of the central server, and below, we briefly describe its
modules, implemented in a embedded platform (e.g., Intel
Edison).
• Database management: After receiving the data frame
via socket communication, this module determines the
position of each identified sensor node. The results are
stored in a local database (DB). We used the open
source embedded database engine SQLite3 for database
creation and management tasks. SQLite uses much less
resources than other DB management system at high
efficiency and high speed, wich are relevant advantages
in embedded system environments [13]. Several tables
were created within the database –one for each beacon
and one for results consolidation. Finally, the adminis-
trator has the possibility to make queries to the database
through a local web-interface, managed by a web-server
(e.g., Lighttpd). This module also supervises the execu-
tion of a RSSI power-based localization technique, that
is explained latter
• Socket interface – Data transmission: This module
provides connectivity to the Acquisition system, and
also interfaces the Ubidots modules.
• Web-server and Ubidots – Visualization and Data
analytic: We can perform some data analytic and visu-
alization from a cloud platform, like Ubidots, Bluemix
IBM, AWS, Microsoft Azure, among others. In our
case, the historical sensed data and the location al-
gorithm results, stored on the SQL database, were
visualized in a Cloud Service Dashboard interface. We
chose Ubitdos because of its flexibility and ease use.
The dashboard interface allows user to get more insights
about the positioning of the receiver node (Acquisition
System) in an indoor environment and know which
reference station was detected (through color indicator).
It worth noting that the computation is not done in the
cloud, but in the Central Server (i.e. edge computing).
The dashboard can be accessed from any device with
a web-browser and Internet connection.
2.3. RSS power-based localization technique
The BLE technology has propagation properties that
allow us to determine values of proximity and distances, with
a certain error in closed environments. The measurements
are made thanks to the fact that it is possible to examine
Figure 1. An architecture for LBS solutions based on IoT philosophy.

Figure 2. Central Server System functional model.


Figure 3. Acquisition Management System functional model.
the RSSI. The most implemented localization methods are
triangulation, scene analysis and methods based on prox-
imity. In the scene analysis method, the radio information
is collected from the wireless signals a priori. During a
first stage of training, training stage, the acquired radio
electric information is associated with the positions, where
they were collected. Afterwards, in a real time stage, real
time measurements of the same characteristics are related
to the location information generated in the training stage
using an objective function. The position is estimated by the
minimization of an error function.
In indoor environments, there are many physical effects
that affect negatively the radio propagation of the signals,
e.g., the multipath effect, scattering and the complexity and
dynamic of interior structures. The aforementioned physical
effects cause an stochastic behavior in the measurement
characteristics, making the location estimation task a difficult
problem but if its posed as a statistic problem, it can be
solvable using Bayesian inference. For our proposed archi-
tecture, the BLE fingerprinting algorithm is a scene analysis
method, where the training stage measurements are made
from the power-footprints of the BLE beacons, installed in
the location space [10]. If the level of transmission power
and the RSSi value are known, it is possible to estimate the
distance that caused the power lost by propagation as shown
in [14].
3. Experiments and Results
In order to assess the performance of the proposed
IoT-based systems, we conducted several tests on different
places at the campus of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana,
Bogotá, Colombia. First, we perform a training stage, where
a basic calibration is performed and later we perform a
functionality test.
3.1. Training stage
All the experiments were carried out in an area that
was divided into grid cells of side 1 m × 1 m as shown
in Figure 5. The area of interest covered approximately
25 m2 . The radio-map was divided in four zones of interest
of proximity (zone 1, zone 2, zone 3 and zone 4) covering
2 m×2 m each one. Four beacons were located at the corner
of the square, at the points of (0 m, 0 m), (0 m, 5 m),
(5 m, 0 m), and (5 m, 5 m). The beacons were installed
a height of 30 cm approximately from the floor. The IoT
system receiver was installed at the center of each grid cell.
The RSS information of each beacon in every grid cell is
stored at the database with a sampling frequency of 1 hz
during 110 s. All the data acquisition process was made
following the recommendations from [10].
Figure 4 shows the RSSI variation for the position 1
of the grid for each 1 Hz BLE beacon.The mean levels,
the maximum values and the variance of the four received
signals RSSI for each beacon in dB at the position 1 are
shown in table 1.
To estimate the position of the receiver in each of the
4 predefined geofences. Indoor position estimation from
random RSS measurements should be regarded as a statisti-
cal problem. In many works Machine learning algorithms
have been considered as a non-deterministic solution to
the position estimation problem [15]. Two different RSSI
classification algorithms [16] were implemented to estimate
the position using the instantaneous RSS obtained during the
real-time stage:
• k-Nearest Neighbours (k-NN) classifier, with centroid
locations in the median values of the training data,
using euclidean distance metrics.
beacon mean, dB maximum, dB minimum, dB σ , dB
1 -52.1 -44 -63 7.3
2 -75.2 -64 -86 6.6
3 -81 -71 -91 6
4 -80.4 -73 -88 5.7
Table 1. RSSI LEVEL CHARACTERISTICS FROM EVERY BEACON AT THE
POSITION 1.
 Figure 4. RSSI variations at the position 1 of the grid.
Figure 5. Location map, geofences and composed coordinate system for
radiolocation.
• k-Means clustering classifier with 4 clusters, using
squared euclidean distance metrics and 10000 cluster-
ing initializations. A subsequent k-NN search algorithm
was implemented in the space of the evaluation data,
to estimate the position zone.
3.2. Results of functionality test
After the training stage, the acquisition management
software was adjusted with the values for each environment.
Then, beacons (remembering that they represent stations
within closed environments) were placed in strategic places
to perform functionality tests of the solution.
Basically, beacons were located at equidistant distances
as far apart as possible, in order to reduce interference
between them and get better detection results, in order to
maintain a minimum accuracy in the position estimation.
With the acquisition module, powered by a portable battery,
we approached each of the stations, verifying its correct
detection through the Ubidots dashboard, as shown on Figure
7, where the position at the zone 4 was estimated.
Through this dashboard, we can also get the RSS values
thrown by each beacon over time, and the distance of the
acquisition module to each of them.
Figure 6 shows the confusion matrices of the exper-
imental results for each classifier.The k-Means clustering
improves the results of the estimation of the position, with a
percentage of correct classification of 70.2 % and incorrect
classification of 29.8 %.
(a) k-NN search algorithm (b) k-Means clustering
Figure 6. Confusion matrices of the experimental results for each classifier.
These results allowed us to get better insights about how
our solution is performing its duties.
The high variations in the measurements are due to
the multi-paths effects and the arrangement of objects in
the experiment environment. Therefore, the data accuracy is
affected and we evidenced it in the RSS values captured. So,
when there are many reflective objects, the dispersion of RSS
increases considerably. These effects could be mitigated by
the implementation of filtering techniques, such as Kalman
and Particles filters [17], among others. The implementation
of filtering techniques is beyond the scope of this paper.
4. Conclusions
This paper reports the design, implementation and evalu-
ation of an IoT-based system for indoor location using BLE
technology.
The general architecture proposed was composed by a
data acquisition system, in charge of identifying and trans-
ferring of sensed data to a central server for further compu-
tation, via WiFi TCP sockets.A central server is responsible
for consolidating the data, transferred by UNIX sockets
by the first system, into a SQL database and allowing the
query of historical information and location results, through
a web interface. Finally, a dashboard was implemented using
Ubidots cloud services to have access to data results, from
any devices connected to the Internet.
There are many physical effects that negatively affect
the radio propagation of the signals in indoor environments,

Figure 7. Ubidots Dashboard of the IoT-based system solution
e.g., the multipath effect, causing an stochastic behavior
in the RSS measurements. To estimate the position with a
precision of 2 m2 , were implemented and evaluated two
machine learning classifiers. The best results were obtained
by k-Means clustering, during the training process.
As future work, we propose the implementation of hybrid
and more robust localization algorithms in a real scenario,
e.g., an office hall. We have considered using inertial infor-
mation to reduce errors using nonlinear Kalman filtering.
Other topic of interesting is the implementation of Ultra
Wide Band (UWB) technology and the integration of indoor
and outdoor positioning systems. This type of application
can be used in museums, malls and historical places of a
city to provide users with more relevant information and a
better experience of the station visited.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the cooperation of
all partners within the Centro de Excelencia y Apropiación en
Internet de las Cosas (CEA-IoT) project. The authors would also
like to thank all the institutions that supported this work: the
Colombian Ministry for the Information and Communications
Technology (Ministerio de Tecnologías de la Información y las
Comunicaciones - MinTIC) and the Colombian Administrative
Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (Departamento
Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación - Colciencias)
through the Fondo Nacional de Financiamiento para la Ciencia, la
Tecnología y la Innovación Francisco José de Caldas (Project ID:
FP44842-502-2015), and the Universidad Sergio Arboleda (Project
ID: IN.BG.086.17.003/OE4).
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