Direct and Transitive 3D Localization Using a Zone-Based Positioning Service

We propose a novel indoor optical positioning technique called zone-based positioning. The approach enables coordinate prediction of a mobile user device with the assistance of trusted optical anchor points, angle diversity, and optical wireless communications. Then, by a process called transitive positioning, additional targets within the field-of-view of the device can also be positioned once the user device is localized. Through modeling and analysis, the predicted performance of the approach reaches less than 5cm mean square error for direct 3D positioning with insignificant degradations for iterative transitive positioning. Experimental validations of the models using a prototype zone positioning unit demonstrate the potential for the approach including opportunities for additional accuracy refinement.