Performance Evaluation of 3D-Position Estimation Systems

Applications that are based on indoor location awareness have different requirements with regard to the accuracy of the estimated positions, the measurement cycle time, and the (end-to-end) delay between the start of a measurement and the availability of the position result. Moreover, the energy consumption of the mobile tags is a key parameter for the selection of an appropriate system. In this paper, we present the results of a series of real-time 3D-position measurements carried out with three respective systems. The two commercial systems, DecaWave DW1000 and Time Domain P410, are based on radio-frequency measurements, while an acoustic prototype system employs time-of-flight measurements based on audible signals. The systems were tested in stationary as well as in dynamic scenarios. Our results provide the accuracies and precisions of the individual systems, the position update rates, and the end-to-end delays. In additional measurements, we determined the individual tag power consumptions and calculated a figure of merit giving the energy consumption per position measurement.