Campus-Wide Indoor Trackting Infrastructure

In the context of large-scale indoor spaces location-based services still lack a feasible technology for localization and tracking in terms of ubiquitous operation. In this article, we present a tracking system based on wireless local area network infrastructure that is capable of simultaneously tracking numerous and diverse mobile clients (i.e., cell phones, laptops, personal digital assistants and alike) in multistory buildings within a campus facility at a near real time resolution and without client software to be installed. In the course of a real-life project at the campus of the University of Linz we have been studying deployment issues and environmental influences on infrastructure-based tracking in a large-scale setup that comprises various types of building structures and architecture. We contribute our findings regarding effects of arbitrary environmental conditions on radio signal based person tracking and present our current results. Furthermore, we demonstrate the feasibility of integrating infrastructural tracking technology into a location-based services platform called “Digital Graffiti” that handles user and privileges management while sustaining the privacy of the individual.