Analysis of distance and similarity metrics in indoor positioning based on bluetooth low energy

Abstract

In this work, we provide an analysis of BLE channel-separate fingerprinting using different distance and similarity measures. In a 168 m2 testbed, 12 beacons with Eddystone and iBeacon protocols set were deployed, taking into account the orientation of users and considering 10 distance/similarity measures. We have observed that there is an orientation that offers the best positioning performance with the combination of iBeacon protocol, channel 38 and Mahalanobis distance. Taking 8 samples in the online phase, accuracy values obtained are in the range 1.28 m–1.88 m, and precision values are within 1.90 m–3.76 m or less, 90% of the time and depending which orientation the observer is facing.