Dynamic Positioning Vectors for Collaborative UWB- Based Positioning

Despite its high ranging accuracy and secure peer-to-peer ranging, UWB (ultrawide-band) has not been as widely adopted for indoor positioning as other radio technologies, such as WiFi and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), due to their high availability. However, UWB chips have recently started to be embedded in consumer devices like smartphones and can often support AoA (Angle of Arrival) estimation, which can aid in the positioning process. To contribute to the emerging research on UWB performance in different chips, this paper presents experimental results on UWB distance and relative angle estimation accuracy over time in UWB-equipped iPhones and a DWM3001CDK chip. iPhones were found to generally display better ranging performance, which declined in mobile scenarios. The UWB developments open new avenues of research for UWB- based collaborative indoor positioning that can reduce dependence on infrastructure, so this paper also proposes a novel dynamic positioning vector framework for mobile UWB-equipped (ultrawide-band) devices, along with new collaborative positioning methods based on the framework. Simulations on the framework's efficacy showed that the new methods can increase positioning coverage to 80% and halve positioning error.