A bluetooth low energy based system for personnel tracking

Wireless localization has been the focus of research due to the wide range of applications it can enable, particularly in industrial hazardous areas where warning systems are crucial for safety. Although there are a number of different technologies available for indoor localization such as Wi-Fi and ultra-wideband, Bluetooth based localization is usually less expensive to deploy and all smartphones have the ability to receive Bluetooth signals. In this paper, a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) location system is proposed. The system consists of a number of beacons that serve as fixed references and a smartphone that serves as a mobile tag. Results show that the system can locate a mobile tag (i.e. smartphone) with an average location error of 1.8 m at an update rate higher than 0.5 seconds.