RSS-Based Ranging by Multichannel RSS Averaging

This letter shows that the accuracy of Radio Signal Strength (RSS)-based ranging can be increased by averaging RSS samples collected on different RF channels. Starting from a multi-cluster propagation model, the analysis shows that Multi Channel RSS Average (MCRA) can indeed reduce the component of the RSS variability due to self-interference produced by strong and quasi-static multipath replicas of the received signal, while it is ineffective against fading components caused by obstacles blockage. The theory is backed up by a set of experimental results obtained in different scenarios that confirm the capability of MCRA to effectively reduce RSS variability and increase RSS-based ranging accuracy.