Investigation of indoor localization with ambient FM radio stations

TL;DR

This paper explores using ambient FM radio signals for indoor localization, demonstrating it as a feasible, energy-efficient alternative to Wi-Fi with widespread device compatibility.

Contribution

It introduces a novel indoor localization approach utilizing FM radio signals, which are globally available and compatible with many mobile devices.

Findings

FM radio signals can be used for indoor localization.

FM-based localization offers longer battery life than Wi-Fi.

The method provides acceptable accuracy for indoor positioning.

Abstract

Localization plays an essential role in many ubiquitous computing applications. While the outdoor location-aware services based on GPS are becoming increasingly popular, their proliferation to indoor environments is limited due to the lack of widely available indoor localization systems. The de-facto standard for indoor positioning is based on Wi-Fi and while other localization alternatives exist, they either require expensive hardware or provide a low accuracy. This paper presents an investigation into localization system that leverages signals of broadcasting FM radio stations. The FM stations provide a worldwide coverage, while FM tuners are readily available in many mobile devices. The experimental results show that FM radio can be used for indoor localization, while providing longer battery life than Wi-Fi, making FM an alternative to consider for positioning.