Position Estimation of Radio Source Based on Fingerprinting With Physical Wireless Parameter Conversion Sensor Networks

Establishing a highly accurate positioning of radio sources for radio wave monitoring and frequency spectrum sharing is attracting considerable attention. Because the positioning method generally requires specific processing of the position target, it is not applicable when the position target cannot perform any processing. The location fingerprinting method uses multiple sensors to observe the received signal strength indication (RSSI) emitted by a radio source and estimates the position from the radio wave propagation characteristics. This does not require a certain process for the target position. However, it takes time to gather RSSI from many sensors by wireless communication. In this study, we propose an RSSI gathering method using physical wireless parameter conversion sensor networks (PhyC-SN) for the high-speed positioning of radio sources. In the proposed method, each sensor selects the radio carrier frequency corresponding to its measured RSSI and transmits the signal. Projecting the RSSI distribution of each sensor onto the frequency distribution of the received signal enables the center to detect the RSSI of multiple sensors simultaneously. Furthermore, to improve the gathering accuracy, we established a sensor group method by considering the regional characteristics and access timing control based on each sensor group. Computer simulations and experimental evaluations show that the proposed method significantly reduces the data-gathering time compared with conventional packet communications and achieves a high positioning accuracy.