Recent Advances in Indoor Localization via Visible Lights: A Survey

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: A. B. M. Mohaimenur Rahman, University of North Carolina; Ting Li, Emory University; Yu Wang, Temple University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-03-01
• Publisher: MDPI
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s20051382
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Sensors
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 5
• Grant/Funding Information: This research received no external funding.
• Keywords: Physical Sciences; Algorithms; Instruments & Instrumentation; Technology; Engineering; visible light communication; Chemistry, Analytical; Chemistry; indoor localization; Science & Technology; visible light localization; Communication; Engineering, Electrical & Electronic; Systems
• Research Categories: Computer Science; Mass Communications; Information Science; Mathematics

Abstract

Because of the limitations of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in indoor scenarios, various types of indoor positioning or localization technologies have been proposed and deployed. Wireless radio signals have been widely used for both communication and localization purposes due to their popular availability in indoor spaces. However, the accuracy of indoor localization based purely on radio signals is still not perfect. Recently, visible light communication (VLC) has made use of electromagnetic radiation from light sources for transmitting data. The potential for deploying visible light communication for indoor localization has been investigated in recent years. Visible-light-based localization enjoys low deployment cost, high throughput, and high security. In this article, the most recent advances in visible-light-based indoor localization systems have been reviewed. We strongly believe that visible-light-based localization will become a low-cost and feasible complementary solution for indoor localization and other smart building applications.