WPI Precision Personnel Locator System: Automatic Antenna Geometry Estimation

B. Woodacre, D. Cyganski, J. Duckworth, S. Makarov, W. Michalson, J. Orr, V. Amendolare, J. Coyne, H. Daempfling

Abstract:	This paper describes the latest developments in the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Precision Personnel Location (PPL) system. The RF-based PPL system is being developed for tracking of first responders and other personnel in indoor environments. The system assumes no existing infrastructure, no pre-characterization of the area of operation and has been designed for spectral compliance. This paper concentrates on describing ongoing work towards an accurate and automatic method for determining the coordinates of the receiving stations of our location system within a local coordinate system. The accuracy of the receiving station locations is a prerequisite for meaningful and accurate location estimates for personnel, which have demonstrated submeter accuracies in realistic multipath environments using manually surveyed receiver positions. This paper documents our approach to receiving station geometric auto-configuration (GAC), the algorithms currently employed, and presents the results from a number of experimental tests. This paper is also one of the first documenting results from our new 150 MHz bandwidth system.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2008 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 28 - 30, 2008 The Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	835 - 842
Cite this article:	Woodacre, B., Cyganski, D., Duckworth, J., Makarov, S., Michalson, W., Orr, J., Amendolare, V., Coyne, J., Daempfling, H., "WPI Precision Personnel Locator System: Automatic Antenna Geometry Estimation," Proceedings of the 2008 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, CA, January 2008, pp. 835-842.
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